6 Clever Wonton Wrapper Recipes And Ideas

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The wonton wrapper is so versatile it can be made into all kinds of food with the wonton wrapper recipes and ideas here.

These clever wonton wrapper recipes and ideas are a godsend because there are always some wrappers left over when I make wontons. I just can't seem to get the portions right. 

They are also lower in calories compared to other types of pastry because there is no butter involved, just wheat flour, water and the optional egg.

Here are some creative ideas to get you started.

1. Wonton ravioli

Boiled wonton ravioliBoiled wonton ravioli

Place your favourite ravioli fillings between two wonton wrappers and seal all edges with water or beaten egg. Trim and cut into different shapes.

For wonton ravioli, make sure you buy wonton wrappers that contain egg. They are slightly thicker and have the right colour. If the skin still isn't thick enough for you, paste 2 pieces together using water.

2. Wonton cups

Wonton wrappers can be baked in muffin tins to make edible containers:

  1. Brush each piece of wonton wrapper with some softened butter
  2. Place 1 or 2 wonton wrappers in each muffin cup (depending on how big you want your wonton cup to be)
  3. Press down to shape the wrappers
  4. Bake them in a preheated 375F / 190C oven for about 1-3 minutes
  5. Leave it to cool before turning the cups out

Make these wonton cups ahead of time. Fill them up with absolutely anything! Guacamole and prawns, fruit and yogurt, egg dip, lemon curd, quiche. Whatever you like!

A visitor told me that her wonton cups were very hard and asked whether there is a way to soften them. I suggested using more butter and to shorten the baking time. Another method is to use a rolling pin to make the wrapper thinner. 

I mentioned at homemade wonton wrappers  that there are 2 types of wonton wrappers. Try to bake with the northern version which is the egg-less version. It is whitish and thinner. 

Look at what some people did with wonton cups.

Lobster with chili coconut mayonnaise.
Image source: Stephanie at Flickr
Crunchy fruit, vegetable and crab sticks in egg mayonnaise.
Image source: avlxyz
Sweetheart cheesecake
Image source: Alison Willey at Flickr

You don't necessary have to use muffin cups to shape wontons. Shape them freehand before baking and see how they turn out. They make great portable and edible food holders for garden parties, like the one below.

heritage Tomatos and Braised Tripe Wonton.
Image source: Boris Mann

3. Wonton rolls and wraps

Do you sometimes feel too lazy to make the shortcrust or puff or filo pastry for your wonderful pastries? Store-bought pastry dough is fine except they can have very high calories. Why not substitute the pastry dough with wonton wrappers?

For example, a cheese wonton. Roll strips of mozzarella cheese in wonton wrappers and shape them like cigars. To bake, brush the wrapper with softened butter and egg wash before popping into the oven. Deep-frying is another popular option.

Serve these cheese wontons in a drinking glass.

Cheese sticks
Image source: hII!H

Don't stop at mozzarella. Try making cream cheese wontons. In fact, try all your favourite cheese or combine them with other yummy ingredients ... like this crab rangoon.

Other pastries you can make with wonton wrappers are apple turnovers, curry potato samosas, peanut butter wraps (try wrapping with the samosa style and the envelope style. How about chocolate and nutella hazelnut spread wraps?

They can be real time-savers and quite low in fat too.

4. Wonton chips

Wonton chips with ice cream
Image source: Charles Haynes at Flickr

Why not make the wonton wrappers the main character instead of playing second fiddle? Bake them flat or deep fry them into chips.

  1. Cut them into long strips and deep fry
  2. Drizzle and mix with some honey or maple syrup
  3. Dust with icing, cinnamon powder or sesame seeds
  4. Serve with ice cream

5. Wonton salad

Bet you did not know that you can use wonton wrappers in salads. Here's a recipe. 

Ingredients

  • 20 pieces of egg-less wonton wrapper
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 orange
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Directions

  1. Cut the wonton wrapper into wide strips. Boil it till done and plunge into cold water. Drain
  2. Wash and slice the cucumber and tomato
  3. Grate 1 tbsp of orange peel
  4. Extract the juice from the orange
  5. Mix the orange juice with the rice vinegar, olive oil and sugar to make the salad dressing
  6. Toss the wonton strips, cucumber and tomato slices together with the salad dressing
  7. Sprinkle the grated orange peel on top of the salad
  8. Serve

6. Wonton origami

When I started looking for recipes using wonton wrappers, I didn't expect to find something like this...wonton origami cranes!

Baked wonton cranes
Image source: Lenore Edman at Flickr

We've got to admire human creativity. Wonton as origami paper, can you beat that? They certainly make great ornaments for party spreads.

Detailed instructions and photos are available at www.madscientist.com.

I hope you will try all these recipes using wonton wrappers. If you come across more wonton wrapper recipes, do let me know and I'll add them to this list.

Happy Souping, Phoebe