How To Make Wontons

I grew up eating Chinese food once or twice a week because my dad, who is an excellent cook, took Chinese cooking classes. Stir fries and sates were his specialty. Wontons have always been my favourite Chinese staple, especially deep fried. I remember as a teenager, sitting at the kitchen table for hours, folding wontons so my dad could make soup. He would always make a small batch of deep fried ones just for me. Drizzled in sweet and sour sauce, deep fried wontons, at one time, were my ultimate guilty pleasure. Nowadays I like to fit in my pants so I don't indulge in wontons quite as often as before. When I do find the desire and time to make a batch, I often make extra to freeze. Straight from the freezer, wontons can be dropped into boiling broth for a quick and delicious lunch of wonton soup.

Makes about 5 dozen

Ingredients:

1lb ground pork
1/2lb (225 grams) baby shrimp, chopped into smaller pieces
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 inch piece of ginger root, chopped fine
1/4 cup water chestnuts, chopped
2 tsp sucanat
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 pkg wonton wrappers
small dish of water

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients, except wonton wrappers, to a large bowl. Using your hands, mix together well so everything is incorporated.



2. Using your finger, lightly wet the top and bottom edges of a wonton wrapper.



3. Scoop a small amount of meat mixture onto the middle of the wonton wrapper. The scoop should be just under one teaspoon full. Anymore and the wonton won't seal properly.



4. Fold the wrapper in half, on a diagonal, to form a triangle. Press down the edges to form a tight seal.



5. Dab a bit of water in the bottom centre of the triangle. Gently pull the right point of the triangle over to the centre and press to seal it to the centre.



6. Do the same with the left point.



7. Arrange completed wontons on a parchment lined baking sheet until ready to use.



Coming soon... Faux-Fried Pork & Shrimp Wontons and Wonton Soup!