Wonton (馄饨)
We grow up with wontons. I cannot remember when I learned how to do this or when I was first introduced to this. We make them in our home, we see them made everywhere around Singapore, and we eat them almost on a daily basis. Nowadays, when I make wontons, I will remember this encounter I had in 2017.
Masterchef Judge: what’s this dish?
Me: Wontons cooked two ways.
MCJ: what meat did u put in your wonton?
Me: pork and prawns that I cleaver chopped from the innovation test box.
MCJ: You put both? (Rolled eyes) then tasted the food… nom nom nom …
Did u say u put green apple in your dish as well? Did u put it inside or outside the wonton?
Me: Inside. To give u a crunch. (Wondering how come she could not taste it)
MCJ: It doesn’t work. And o my… it is so spicy! You taste nothing but hot peppers. Try it yourself.
Me: huh? (Tasted) Hm… it is actually not spicy for me.
MCJ: (shook her head)
In my family, we have been using pork and prawns / shrimps meat for wonton for generations, and either waterchestnut or anything with a neutral taste to give a crunch in our wontons. Our food is very spicy. I was not smart enough to adjust it for a westerner, thinking a Masterchef judge would know how wontons are made by natives (lol, is there such a thing as wonton native?).
Result? Eliminated. Lol. Thank you for years of memories after that.
A little secret to wrapping wontons: there must not be too much meat, because you want the wontons to cook quickly. For fried wontons, too much meat means your meat won’t be cooked or the juice from the meat will make your fried wontons soggy. For boiled ones, if you overcook, the wrappers become soggy and no longer like noodles.
If you want the best wontons, always make the wrappers yourself. Make them the thinnest you can. My own wonton wrappers are 1/2 the thickness of store-bought ones.
Wonton
- Sediakan
- 0 min
- Masak
- 0 min
- Jumlah
- 0 min
- Hidangan
- 0
Bahan-bahan
- rolling pin or pasta maker
- pan
- 3 inchcookie cutter
- 200 gminced pork, more fat if you want smoother, lean is great too!
- 200 gprawn meat
- 100 gwaterchestnut from a can or freshly peeled
- 1 tbspcold water
- 1 tbspsoya sauce
- 1 tbspsesame oil
- 1 tbspChinese wine
- 1 tsppepper
- 1/2egg to make filings sticky
- 2 cupsplain flour
- 1/2 cupwater + egg up to 2 eggs
- A pinch salt
- 1/2 tspalkaline water, optional this turns the white flour yellow and make the wrapper more tangy
- Some corn flour for dusting
- 1 tbspminced garlic
- 1 tbspminced chilies
- 1 tbspblack vinegar
- 1 tbspszechuan pepper corn roughly ground
- 1 tbspsoya sauce
- 1/2 cupstock, can be from water and bullion powder - optional
- Toppings, optional or add anything you like!
- Some coriander
- Some scallions
- Some sesame seeds
- 2 cupsvegetable oil for frying wontons
- 5 cupswater for boiling wontons
- 1 tspsalt - added to water when boiling wontons
Cara
- Make wrapper
- 01Mix all the dry ingredients into a big bowl or mixer and stir just to mix things up. 10 seconds.
- 02Add the wet ingredients and knead for 5 minutes.
- 03Roll out the dough to as thin as possible. I don't normally rest my dough.
- 04Use a generous amount of corn flour for dusting.
- 05making wontons
- Make filings
- 06Place all ingredients into a medium sized bowl and stir in one direction until the mixture is sticky. About 5 minutes.
- Wrapping
- 07Place 1/2 teaspoon of filings in each wrapper and fold simply and quickly. Do not attempt to put too much filings or the wontons won't cook properly and get soggy.
- 08uncooked wonton
- Frying
- 09Test that the oil is very hot (450F) and drop the wontons in. Done with they are golden brown.
- Boiling
- 10Boil hot water with some salt.
- 11Put the wontons in and keep stirring.
- 12Ready when wontons float.
- Spicy Sauce
- 13Heat up sesame sauce.
- 14Add the chopped garlic, szechuan peppers and chilies.
- 15When garlic are yellow, add in the vinegar and soya sauce.
- 16Add bullion and water. (optional, only if you want more sauce to go with rice)
- 17Boil and dish out.
- 18Pour over boiled wontons.
- 19Add toppings