 |
| Visit my chinese soups blog |
|
Looking for quality English-Chinese or Chinese-English translation? Send an enquiry |
Welcome to Wontons Heaven
"Wonton, like a number of Chinese foods,
should not be eaten in polite company.
They must be served piping hot and slurped down."
|
Looking for wonton recipes? Don't know what a wonton is? Don't know how to fold wontons? Don't now what goes into won tons? Don't know where to buy wonton wrappers? Looking for different ways to serve them? Looking for creative ways to use leftover wrappers? Don't know where wonton came from? China or Japan?
Everything you need to know about the wonton is here. You won't find another website packed with so much information about wontons. Wontons is one of my favourite Chinese food and I liked them best in soups where the skin is boiled to silky smooth and the filling bursts with freshness and flavour in the mouth. This little parcel of culinary delight enjoys an international reputation and it owes its global fame to the Cantonese (a dialect group originating from Guang zhou province and Hong Kong). What exactly is a wonton?
It is a bite-size small parcel made up of a paper-thin wheat-based sheet wrapped around a filling of minced meat with a variety of complementary ingredients. As with many types of food, the origin of the wonton is difficult to trace. Many Chinese food come in small parcels. Northern Chinese cuisine has a lot of buns and dumplings. There is the famous Cantonese dim sum like shrimp dumplings (or har gow / xia jiao), the rice dumplings (or zong zi), the buns (or man tou), the pot stickers (or guo tie). In Mainland China, wonton is actually a Southern or Cantonese variation of hun tun which roughly means irregularly shaped pasta. Other name variations include Si Chuan's chao shou and Taiwanese bian shi. While hun tun means irregular shaped pasta, wonton has a more poetic meaning swallowing clouds. The thin wheat-based wrappers resemble clouds floating when they are cooked and served in soups. Because the Cantonese has taken their little meat parcel all over the world, the name has since become more well-known than hun tun especially in the US and Europe. Wonton SkinThe wheat-based sheet is known as wonton wrapper or wonton skin.You can try to make the wrappers yourself but it is hard work, as they have 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. 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 (or shao mai), steamed dumplings (or jiao zi), and potstickers (or 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. Wonton wrappers can be either white or yellowish in color. The yellow color is caused by eggs. Vegans should take note.
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. From ravioli, wonton cups, twists, rolls, to salads. Go on, be inspired at the recipes using wonton wrappers page! Wonton FillingAlthough there are many recipes for wontons, the variations are mostly in the ingredients used for the fillings. THE ingredient is ground pork. However, ground beef, chicken, prawns, fish and tofu are possible substitutes.If you are going to substitute pork with beef, chicken, or lamb, you might want to introduce a little fat so that the filling won't be dry. Chinese chefs usually add fatty pork to increase juicyness (now you know the secret). All ingredients must be minced or diced. Mix the ingredients together and season appropriately. Give the filling a good mix and leave to stand to marinate. Better still, cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for about an hour. The filling mixture should be slightly wet and sticky. But not too wet. I have included many wonton recipes using different types of ingredients for filling: Chicken wonton recipes Crab meat wonton recipes Fish wonton recipes Pork wonton recipes Shrimp wonton recipes Turkey wonton recipes Vegetable wonton recipes Folding a wontonDo you know that there are many ways to fold or wrap a wonton?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. A few wontons recipes say to lay the won ton wrappers out on a baking sheet, place the filling in the middle of each wrapper and then wrap. I nearly fell off my chair. I wonder where they got the idea. This "lay-them-all-out" method is fine for cookies and ravioli but it is a big No-No when wrapping wontons. The wrappers dry easily. 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.
Cooking wontonsMany wonton recipes I have come across tell people to cook wontons straight in the soups to be served.Don't do that! Imagine all your hard work of wrapping the beautiful wontons and making a good clear broth only to be sabotaged at the last moment. Wonton soup and wontons must be cooked separately!
Won ton wrappers are covered with flour to prevent them from sticking together. If they are cooked directly in the soup, the flour will affect the flavour and texture of the soup. The correct way to cook wontons is as follows:
Wonton soupsWonton soups are usually clear broths. You can use any soup base you like as long as they are not too strongly flavored. They should not fight with the wontons for attention. You might want to try some of these:Wonton soups pork wonton soup base Serving wontonsThe chinese usually serve wontons in wonton soups as part of a communal meal. Have you ever thought of serving them as:1. Appetizers
2. Main mealsWontons is found in one of Hong Kong's most famous street food: the Chinese pork wonton noodle. It is also a common hawker fare in Singapore and Malaysia. The Chinese pork wonton noodle is typically made up of egg noodles, wontons, and barbecued pork / char siew (or cha shao).The Hong Kong version is a noodle soup while the Singapore and Malaysia versions are noodles served dry with cut green chilli. 3. DessertsMost wonton recipes are savoury but, with some creativity, they can be made into sweet desserts to round off a good meal. I've some yummy ideas to transform wontons into delectable wonton desserts. Don't forget to visit the recipes using wonton wrappers page and check out extra ideas on how to use wonton wrappers.4. Party SnacksDeep fried wontons make great party food. They are crispy, light and oh so portable. They can be as good as the soupy ones. Who can resist crispy deep fried wonton recipes?If you are throwing a party, why not make a big batch of crispy wontons for your guests. It would be a hit! Wrap up a batch of wontons using your favorite fillings...or pick one from my recipe list. Instead of boiling them, heat up a wok of oil or fire up your deep fryer and fry them till golden brown. They are done when they float up to the top. Get a big round plate, spread the golden crispy wontons around leaving a gap in the middle for the dip bowl. Fill it with mayonnaise, Maggi chilli sauce, sweet and sour sauce, homemade dips, it's up to you! Dipping SaucesWell-made wontons are good enough to eat on its own. However, some people (including me) still like to have some dipping sauces to go with their wontons. The simplest would be a little sweet chilli sauce. I always find the Maggi bottled sweet chilli sauce quite handy at home. When I am lazy, I just shake some out.Unlike me, the people in the Szechwan (or si chuan) province take their wonton dip a bit more seriously. They serve their wontons in the dip. (Did I mention that Szechwan wontons are known as chao shou). Szechwan dipping sauces are both fragrant and spicy hot. I found a few recipes for Szechwan wonton dipping sauce. Try them. Cooking wontons togetherWhen I was younger, making wontons is a family affair. Granny will mix up a big batch of filling and we will sit around wrapping. It was great fun. We made a lot of noise as well as wontons.I had a few parties while studying in Melbourne, mostly to do with food: steamboat parties, laksa night-out and wonton parties. Getting together to cook up a storm is good fun and a great way to bond with friends. Wontons are easy to make and cook together. Have a wonton party. Boil it, bake it, or fry it. Finally, eat it over rounds of games and sharing. Storing the wontonsOh oh, made too many wontons? Chinese recipes for wontons almost always assume you are cooking for a family party, so the amount of ingredients is huge. If you are only thinking of making a dozen or so, consider downsizing the amount specified.On the other hand, wontons are really easy to freeze and store:
|
