Wonton

There must be hundreds of variations on wonton, but the first version I tried was a winner and I have stayed faithful to it, more or less. You can't go wrong- it smells good even before you cook it, something rarely said about raw pork. Some people make flawlessly beautiful wonton, some people just squish them together, but they all taste good. My children LOVE making these and would be insulted if they weren't allowed to participate in this. 

When we made this last night it made about 60 and served 7, but they were so good I think everyone at the table would have eaten more. My five year old ate like a trucker, and my seven year old skipped the rice to make sure he could fit in all the wonton he wanted. I made a huge stir-fry of cabbage, fresh corn, and green onion seasoned with soy sauce, mirin, and pepper to go with it. 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
1-1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1 scallion
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons of minced or grated garlic

1 package of round wonton wrappers (about 60)
oil for frying (I used lard I had rendered and it was mouthwatering)
more soy sauce for dipping
white vinegar or rice vinegar for dipping

Directions:
Mix the pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cornstarch, scallion and garlic in a bowl. This is your filling. Take one wrapper, place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center, and wet half the edge of the wrapper with a drop of water. Using either a plastic wonton mold or your fingers, fold and press the edges together. There are many ways to do this. Too much filling and it will explode, too little and it's a disappointment when you go to eat it. You'll get the hang of it. Take a look at the picture above. 

Heat a non-stick skillet and generously coat the bottom of the pan with oil (or tallow or lard). Place a layer of wonton in the pan and fry them until they are well browned on the bottom. Pour in about 1/4-1/3 cup of water in the pan and cover it quickly with a lid because it will hiss and spit like crazy. Set a timer for three minutes and allow the dumplings to steam. After three minutes, scoop them out with a slotted spatula and transfer them to a plate. You will have to do multiple batches if you are cooking all the wonton. Try to get the frying pan decently clean between batches or you may run into problems like soggy wonton or burnt nasty bits. 

Next make the dipping sauce. Again, there are many variations on the same theme out there, but here is an easy one I use. Pour some soy sauce into a jar, and add white vinegar, then add a little water to thin it out. The amounts vary tremendously depending on what brands you use. If you use rice vinegar and a soy sauce that isn't brutally salty you might not need to add any water. You can also add chopped scallion, a drop of sesame oil, chili oil, or whatever else you like. 

Don't bother making these by hand. Cooking them fresh instead of frozen was a much bigger payoff.

the wonton press in all its glory

The right one was done in the press. The middle one was done by folding one side against a flat side. The left was just pressed together by hand and then folded. You get the idea- it doesn't matter.

Browned on one side and ready to steam.

Ready to be devoured.