Want Wontons? Hanging with Mom (雲吞)
My mom came down and spent the week with us recently. She is 93 years old and still lives in San Francisco in the same house I grew up in. Her memory has faltered and her cognitive skills have diminished but she soldiers on. I am thankful that she is still with us and grateful for the moments we have together. It is now our turn to take care of her, everything comes full circle.
When she visits we talk about family. She remembers snippets of when she was younger, she laughs at my exasperation with my kids. She doesn’t cook much anymore but she likes to make wontons for the kids when she visits. When I was in college she would make trays of wontons, freeze and pack them, ready for me to take back to Berkeley after a weekend visit. When the kids were small she would make wontons for them during her babysitting stints,
We used medium wrappers for this batch but I generally use thin wrappers which are good for won ton soup and fried won tons.
Tons of Advice on Wontons
We head to the Asian market to shop for freshwater chestnuts (no canned stuff for her), pork (not pre-ground, too mushy), mushrooms, wrappers, and shrimp (raw & unpeeled). Back at home, she insists on making the filling as she has for so many years, chopping the pork and shrimp by hand and incorporating the seasonings with her Chinese cleaver. We reserve some of the filling for mini stuffed omelets called Gai Dan Kok (kid favorite) and then we sit, talk, and fold won tons. We fill as many trays as we have of wrappers or filling, and store them in the freezer. When the kids come home she will boil up a batch or fry egg dumplings for them. These are the moments I will treasure.
Mom makes classic pork and shrimp filling for her wontons. It is my go-to filling for not just wontons but for egg dumplings and steamed stuffed squash. It’s delicious. The shrimp can be chopped with the pork and blended with it or cut into 1/2 inch pieces and a couple of pieces placed in each wonton as shown in the video below. Soaking the shrimp in potassium carbonate firms up the shrimp giving the wonton a nice bite. You could probably forego this step. I added 1 tsp Ponzu (or you could use soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon) and 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil to the shrimp for flavor.
The Fried Way
These wontons can also be fried. Heat oil in a large pot to 350-375 degrees. Fry in at least 2 inches of oil in the pot. Cook in batches of 6-8 won tons. Fry to golden brown and remove to a paper towel-lined pan to drain off excess oil. Serve with a sweet and sour sauce or ketchup.
Wontons
Ingredients
Pork & Shrimp Filling
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 4-6 water chestnuts peeled and coarsely chopped fresh or canned (rinse before using)
- 3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in warm water to soften (15-20 min) drained and coarsely chopped
- 2 stalks of green onions coarsely chopped
- 1/2 inch knob of fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 1/4 pound fresh shrimp peeled and deveined and roughly diced
- 1 T cilantro leaves finely chopped optional
The Flavorings
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1 T oyster sauce
- 1 T rice wine or sherry
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil optional
That's a Wrap
- 1 pkg won ton wrappers Hong Kong Style are extra thin, I use thin wonton wrappers by New Hong Kong Noodle Company of San Francisco
Instructions
Filling
- Start with Pork shoulder or Pork Butt. Hand-chop or coarse grind in food processor. When buying pork, look for coarse ground.
- Place ground pork and filling ingredients except shrimp* in a medium-sized bowl. *You can finely chop the shrimp and add it to the filling or reserve the shrimp cut into 1/2 inch pieces to be added when folding each wonton.
- Add seasonings. Using chopsticks or a spoon, stir the mixture in one direction until the ingredients are well combined.
Wrapping
- See video of my mom wrapping wontons!
- Have ready wrappers, filling and small bowl of water or egg wash to seal won tons
- Choose any won ton wrapper you like. My preference is Thin wrappers from New Hong Kong Noodle Factory. Wrappers come in different thicknesses. Avoid thick wrappers if you are making wontons for soup or deep-frying. Thick ones work well for Potstickers-a combination of frying and steaming when more filling is used.
- Wontons can be folded in a variety of ways including simply folding like a triangle or square. Trick is to eliminate air bubbles and use water or egg wash to seal the edges.
- Use about 1 generous teaspoon of filling per wonton.
- Meanwhile, fill a large stockpot with water at least 2/3-3/4 full. Bring to boil over high heat. Drop folded wontons into the boiling water. Keep water at a nice boil not on a crazy high boil. The wontons will float to the surface as they cook, an indication they are ready. Let boil for about 3-4 minutes total, about 1 min after they float to the top. Remove with strainer, drain and serve in soup*
- * Chicken Soup is perfect. If you use commercial chicken broth, use low sodium and season yourself. Add a slice of fresh ginger or shallots as you are heating. Season with soy sauce.
- All the rage now seems to be serving wontons without soup, slathered in Chili Crisp Oil and a splash of vinegar. You could easily sub the soup and use a chili oil for the wontons. See notes for sauce.
- If you have extra filling left after folding wontons, you can use it for gai don gok (mini egg dumplings or as a filling for squash.
Notes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce or regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon black rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon homemade chili oil, or to taste