Eleven ingredients and forty-five minutes, across a pan of frying oil and a skillet.
The shell is the unusual part: a wonton wrapper folded over a form and fried until it holds its own shape.
Why This Recipe Works
- Frying the wrappers over a form sets the taco shape before they cool.
- Oil held at 350 degrees blisters the wrappers without darkening them too fast.
- Glazing the chicken after it is cooked keeps the sugars from burning in the pan.
- Mayonnaise and rice vinegar make a slaw dressing that clings rather than pools.
- Filling with slaw first puts a dry layer between the glaze and the shell.
Ingredient Notes
- Wonton wrappers
- Twelve, fried over a form. They are the shells — there is no tortilla anywhere in this recipe.
- Green and purple cabbage with carrot
- A cup, half a cup and half a cup. The slaw is a major component the title never names.
- Teriyaki sauce
- A third of a cup to glaze the chicken, plus extra to drizzle and to serve in a small dish alongside.
- Mayonnaise and rice vinegar
- A quarter cup and a tablespoon. Together they are the white creamy element visible drizzled over the finished tacos.
How to Make It
Wrappers fried over a form at 350°F
Heat frying oil to 350°F and fry the wonton wrappers folded over a taco form until blistered and golden; drain.
Chicken browned to 165°F, then glazed
Cook the chicken in a skillet until browned and 165°F, then toss with enough teriyaki sauce to glaze.
Both cabbages and carrot into a crisp slaw
Toss both cabbages and the carrots with mayonnaise and rice vinegar to make a crisp slaw.
Slaw first, then the chicken
Fill each wonton shell with slaw and teriyaki chicken.
Drizzled, then sesame and green onion
Drizzle lightly with the creamy dressing and teriyaki sauce; finish with sesame and green onion.
Extra sauce in a small dish
Serve extra teriyaki sauce in a small dish.
The Shell Is the Recipe
Almost everything in these tacos is assembled rather than cooked. The one thing that genuinely has to be made is the shell - a wonton wrapper persuaded to hold a taco shape - and the order of everything after it exists to keep that shell crisp.
Stage 1 of 5
The shells - fried at a HELD temperature
Steps 1–1 of 6
12 wonton wrappers, FOLDED OVER A TACO FORM and fried at 350F UNTIL BLISTERED AND GOLDEN, then DRAINED. The temperature is stated because it is doing real work: wonton wrappers are thin enough that oil much below 350F soaks in before the wrapper sets, giving a greasy shell rather than a blistered one. The form is what makes this a taco at all - a flat wrapper fries flat, and once it cools it is rigid and cannot be bent. For safety, maintain the oil around 350F and handle hot oil carefully.
- Wrappers fried over a form at 350°FHeat frying oil to 350°F and fry the wonton wrappers folded over a taco form until blistered and golden; drain.
Stage 2 of 5
The chicken - cooked FIRST, glazed SECOND
Steps 2–2 of 6
1 lb of diced chicken breast browned in a skillet UNTIL 165F, and only THEN tossed with enough of the 1/3 cup teriyaki TO GLAZE. That order matters with any sweet sauce: teriyaki added to raw chicken sits in the pan for the whole cook and its sugars scorch long before the meat is safe. Added at the end it coats and glosses in seconds. 165F is the safe temperature and it is reached before the sauce ever appears.
- Chicken browned to 165°F, then glazedCook the chicken in a skillet until browned and 165°F, then toss with enough teriyaki sauce to glaze.
Stage 3 of 5
The slaw - dressed to CLING
Steps 3–3 of 6
1 cup shredded green cabbage, 1/2 cup purple cabbage and 1/2 cup carrot matchsticks tossed with 1/4 cup MAYONNAISE and 1 tbsp RICE VINEGAR. Mayonnaise rather than a pourable dressing is a structural choice: it coats the shreds and stays on them, where a thin vinaigrette would run straight through the slaw and pool in the bottom of a shell that is trying to stay crisp. The vinegar cuts it so it reads fresh rather than heavy.
- Both cabbages and carrot into a crisp slawToss both cabbages and the carrots with mayonnaise and rice vinegar to make a crisp slaw.
Stage 4 of 5
Filled SLAW FIRST, then chicken
Steps 4–4 of 6
The order inside the shell is deliberate. Slaw goes down first as a dry-ish barrier layer, and the GLAZED chicken sits on top of it rather than directly against the fried wrapper. A sticky teriyaki glaze in direct contact with a thin wonton shell softens it from the inside within minutes.
- Slaw first, then the chickenFill each wonton shell with slaw and teriyaki chicken.
Stage 5 of 5
Drizzled LIGHTLY, and extra sauce on the side
Steps 5–6 of 6
The creamy dressing and more teriyaki drizzled LIGHTLY - lightly for the same reason the slaw went in first - then 1 tbsp sesame seeds and 2 sliced green onions, both visible components the title never names. The extra teriyaki goes into a SMALL DISH alongside rather than over the tacos, which is the sensible answer to wanting more sauce on something this crisp.
- Drizzled, then sesame and green onionDrizzle lightly with the creamy dressing and teriyaki sauce; finish with sesame and green onion.
- Extra sauce in a small dishServe extra teriyaki sauce in a small dish.
Success Tips
- Keep the oil at 350 degrees; cooler and the wrappers soak it up rather than blistering.
- Fry the shells first and let them drain — they hold their shape once cool.
- Put the slaw in before the chicken so the glaze does not soften the shell.
Serving Ideas
Twelve tacos on a platter, the fried wonton shells filled with crisp cabbage-and-carrot slaw and teriyaki-glazed chicken, drizzled with the creamy dressing and more teriyaki, scattered with sesame and green onion, with a small dish of extra sauce alongside.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use tortillas instead?
No — the shells are fried wonton wrappers, and that is what gives the thin blistered crispness this dish is built on.
Does the oil temperature matter?
Yes. Hold it around 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler and the wrappers absorb oil instead of crisping; hotter and they darken before they blister.
Why does the slaw go in first?
It sits between the glazed chicken and the shell, so the sauce does not soften the wonton from underneath.
