Are you surprised at how soft and silky wonton wrappers became when they are boiled?
The uncooked wrapper can be quite firm and it is fairly easy to wrap the wontons. But they turn slippery and soft when they are cooked. Ahh, the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors.
Wonton wrappers are basically made with wheat flour and water. Traditional wrappers are squarish, although you can find some round ones nowadays. Different folding styles are easier with the square wrappers.
When purchasing round wonton skins, be careful not to mix it up with dumpling wrappers which are also round. These are used to wrap other types of chinese food parcels such as siu mai 烧卖 (shao mai), steamed dumplings 饺子 (jiao zi), and potstickers 锅贴 (guo tie). They are thicker and chewier than wonton wrappers. You won't get that silky melt-in-the-mouth heavenly experience with dumpling wrappers.
It is hard work to make them from scratch. They need to be paper-thin and cut into uniform squares. It is much easier to buy them ready-made. They come vacuumed-packed in 50s or 100s.
The pictures below show the 2 basic types of wonton wrapper. The one on the left is the cantonese wrapper. It is slightly yellowish because egg has been added. Vegans should take note and scrutinized the ingredient label carefully. The one on the right is the northern chinese version. It contains no egg and is therefore paler in color. The picture show both square and round versions.
The wonton wrapper is so versatile that it can be made into all kinds of food other than wontons. This is good news for me because there are always some wrappers left over when I make wontons. I just can't seem to get the portion of filling and the number of wrappers available right.
That aside, leftovers can be made into ravioli, wonton cups, twists, rolls, and crisp strips for salads. I listed some of them at the recipes using wonton wrappers page. Do head over there to have a look.
Where to buy wonton wrappers?
They can be found in the refrigerated section (next to tofu, fresh noodles and etc.) in NTUC Fairprice and other major supermarkets in Singapore and Malaysia.
It is probably available in major supermarkets in american and european cities with a sizeable Asian population. If not, you may have to try Asian specialty or grocery shops. Ask the shop assistants. Some shops sell freshly made ones and may not have them out on display.
Pacific Rim Gourmet sells the Nanka Seimen Golden Dragon wonton skins online via Bizrate and Amazon.
How to fold wonton?
How many ways can you fold or wrap a wonton? Limited only by your imagination.
Different regions in China have their own unique ways of wrapping or folding wontons. I feature 8 folding styles at my how to fold wontons page. Take your pick.
Important tip when wrapping wontons
Do not leave the wonton wrappers uncovered during wrapping time. Always cover both unused wrappers and completed wontons under damp cloth.
I came across several cookbooks teaching people to lay the won ton wrappers out on a baking sheet, place the filling in the middle of each wrapper before wrapping each. I guess they took the idea from baking but this is not how chinese people do it.
Wonton wrappers dry easily and become hard and brittle. After opening the packet, they should be kept covered under a damp dishcloth. Take one piece out at a time to wrap. After wrapping, keep the wontons covered under a damp cloth or kitchen towel.
How much filling should I use?
Let me tell you a true story.
When I was still little and thought I was the cleverest kid around, I tried to save time by wrapping big wontons. I struggle to wrap it all up and the skin broke. When I did manage to wrap a big one without breaking the skin, the filling and the wrapper parted ways in the boiling water.
Moral of the story?
Do not wrap big wontons unless you got super-sized wrappers. The general rule of thumb is about 1 teaspoon per sheet.
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