Looking for information on wontons? Don't know what a wonton is? Don't know how to fold wontons?
Don't know 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.
What you will find here:
- What is a wonton?
- Wontons as appetizers, main courses, desserts & party snacks
- Wonton dipping sauces
- Storing wontons
- A collection of wonton recipes
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 dialet 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 (点心) like shrimp dumplings (虾饺 har gow / xia jiao), the rice dumplings (粽子 zong zi), the buns (馒头 man tou), and the pot stickers (锅贴 guo tie).
In Mainland China, wonton is actually a Southern or Cantonese variation of hun tun 云吞 which roughly means irregularly shaped pasta. Other name variations include Si Chuan's chao shou (四川抄手) and Taiwanese bian shi (台湾扁食).
While hun tun means irregular shaped pasta, wonton 云吞 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.
Serving wontons
The chinese usually serve wontons in soups as part of a communal meal. They are also served at eating places / restaurants if you order a single dish of wonton noodle soup.
But you can serve them as:
1. Wonton Appetizers
- Make smaller wontons and serve them in clear broth. It opens up the palate and start the stomach juices going. They can be an interesting conversation topic as well.
- Serve a cluster of wontons in a drinking glass. Drizzle a little sesame seed oil and garnish with some coriander leaves.
- Serve the wontons deep fried with a little mayonnaise on the side.
- Bake your cooked wontons topped with a little cheese.
2. Main meals
Wonton is found in one of Hong Kong's most famous street food: the pork wonton noodle (wanton 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 (叉烧 cha shao).
The Hong Kong version is a noodle soup while the Singapore and Malaysia versions are noodles served dry with cut green chili. You can find both versions easily in Singapore's hawker centres. It is interesting to note how different the two dishes look and taste even though they bear the same name.
3. Desserts
Most wonton recipes are savoury but, with some creativity, they can be turned into sweet desserts to round off a good meal.
I have included some yummy ideas to transform wontons into delectable wonton desserts.
Visit the recipes using wonton wrappers page and check out extra ideas on how to use wonton wrappers.
4. Party Snacks
Deep fried wontons make great party food. They are crispy, light and oh so portable.
They are as good as the soupy ones. Who can resist a crispy deep fried wonton?
If you are throwing a party, why not make a big batch of crispy wontons for your guests to munch? I am sure 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 or homemade dips, it's up to you!
Wonton Dipping Sauces
Well-made wontons are good enough to eat on its own. However, some people (including me) still like to have some dipping sauce 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)?
I found a few recipes for Szechwan wonton dipping sauce. Try them but beware, they are spicy hot.
Wonton party
When 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.
"Wonton, like a number of Chinese foods,
should not be eaten in polite company.
They must be served piping hot and slurped down."
~ Anthony Zee
Storing wontons
Oh 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:
- Arrange your extra wontons on sheets of baking paper, 1 layer per sheet. Do not stack!
- Place them inside the freezer
- When they are frozen, remove from fridge and baking sheet
- Pack in ziplock bags
- Return them to the freezer
The only thing to note is that these frozen wontons cannot be thawed as the wonton skins would go all mushy. If they cannot be thawed, they cannot be fried. They can only be boiled or steamed.
Time to cook
Are you ready to start making your own little wontons? Head over to the anatomy of a wonton soup recipe page for step by step instructions.Other pages on wontons
Search for other soup recipes
