Chinese Wontons

Chinese symbol for "dumpling"

Chinese wontons are meat-filled dumplings that are boiled, steamed, pan-fried, or deep fried, depending on the application.   I love them every which way and think they should be called Chinese bonbons, because they're like meat candy!

When I was a young, single working woman, a co-worker friend and I decided to take a Chinese cooking class. This recipe is the best one that I took away from that class almost 30 years ago.  These little morsels are positively addictive and are insanely popular in my family, probably because I only make them once or twice a year.

The trickiest part of this recipe is folding the wontons.  It's really not difficult, just a little time-consuming.  My teenaged daughter likes helping me with this, so we do it together.

Method #1

• Put about a teaspoonful of the pork filling (recipe below) on the lower part of the wonton that you have placed like a diamond on your work surface.
• Moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper and fold the bottom point up to the top, making a triangle.  Press firmly to adhere all sides.
• At the base of the triangle, fold the left corner under the right corner, dab with a little water, and pinch to seal.
• The wonton should resemble a little hat.

This time,  I tried a different folding method, one that I observed that they use at Pei Wei (sister restaurant to PF Chang).  I think that this is a better method because you can get more filling in the wonton and it seems to be a more structurally-stable design.  Plus, it looks prettier!

Method #2

• Put about a teaspoonful of the pork filling in the center of the wonton that you have placed like a square on your work surface.
• Moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper and bring the corners to the center of the wonton.  You can either do this by working side-to-side or by going diagonally.  I showed both options below.  Pinch all the seams together well .
• The wonton should kind of resemble an envelope.  My daughter thought it looked like a star.

Here's what you'll need for these delicious little nuggets:

Chinese Fried Wontons
(click here to print)


1 lb. reduced-fat ground pork
1 egg
2 Tbsp. green onion, finely chopped (use all of the green tops for color)
4 tsp. dry sherry
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp. oriental sesame oil (pure)

wonton wrappers (usually found in the produce section)
48 oz. vegetable oil for frying

Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven.  I used my enameled cast iron pot because it holds the heat well.  Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until thermometer reaches 375 degrees.

Combine all filling ingredients and mix well.  Assemble the wontons as shown above.  Fry about 6 at a time so that the oil temperature doesn't drop too quickly.

 
Turn them around so that they're golden brown on all sides.  Remove to drain on paper toweling.

Keep warm in a 200 degree oven while you fry the remainder of the batch.

Serve wontons with sweet and sour sauce, plum sauce, hot mustard, a soy sauce/garlic/ginger blend, or whatever you desire.

Chinese symbol for "delicious delicacy"

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