Chinese New Year: Wontons

Okay, one last flashback from CNY: shrimp and pork wontons. I am not crazy about wonton soup, but after frying my turnip cake, I couldn't very well fry my wontons too, so soup it was.

I improvised this recipe for the most part, and overall it came out pretty tasty!

You will need:
3/4 lb Ground pork
Handful of uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 bunch of scallions
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
White pepper to taste

That is white pepper on my pork--it's not rotten, I promise

Chop up your shrimp into small pieces, and combine all ingredients in a bowl. I ended up using about a tablespoon of sesame oil, and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. In retrospect, I would have used a little more soy sauce or added some additional salt because it was a little lacking in flavor.

Set up your wonton making station:

Your meat mixture, your wonton wrappers, and a bowl of water.

To make my wontons, I used the following method: Spoon a teaspoon or so of the meat mixture onto the center of a wonton wrapper. Using your index finger, wet two adjacent edges of the square wrapper with the water, like so:

The wrappers are lightly coated in corn starch, so wetting the edges will form a little "glue". Fold your wonton into a triangle, using the wet edges to seal in the meat securely. Make sure there is no trapped air in your wonton. Next, moisten one tip of the triangle, and press it against the other, forming a little "flower":

Isn't it cute?? Continue until you have used up your meat mixture. If you overstuff some of your wontons, like I did, they may become unsealed when you cook them.

Do NOT, I repeat do NOT stack your wontons like this. The moisture from the meat inside will cause them all to stick to one another, and it will be a big mess, and some of them will definitely come apart while cooking. Instead, place your fresh wontons a single layer on a lightly corn-starched/floured surface.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then cook the wontons on simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally. When they are done, they will float to the top. Add to soup, or fry, and you have yourself some wontons!

YUM!