Fried Wontons & Wonton Soup by Terin Talarico on Flickr

Ingredients: 2 packages Nasoya Wonton Wrappers, 1 lb ground pork, 3 spring onions, 1 bulb garlic, 2” grated ginger,  1.5 cups baby carrots, 1/2 head small red cabbage, black pepper, white pepper, 1/2 tbsp red chili flakes, chicken stock, egg, soy sauce and Sriracha to taste.

Tools: food processor, mixing bowl, bowl for sealing “glue”, regular skillet, sided-skillet, 1 large stockpot, 1 medium stockpot, paper towels to keep rolling area clean, and a friend to help you fold wontons!

PS: this recipe could easily be made vegetarian by substituting the pork with tofu, bok choy or more mushrooms, using a vegetable stock for soup, and sealing the edges with cornstarch and water, rather than egg.  However, the Nasoya wrappers are not vegan, as they are made with egg.

Recipe:

Dan didn’t have work until 3 pm today, as he is working an overnight, so I enlisted his help to make our lunch: Pork, Cabbage, Carrot & Mushroom Wontons. 

I’ll begin with the wrappers: I didn’t make these by hand.  In the organic/tofu produce section of the commissary, I picked up two packages of Nasoya Wonton Wrappers.  This made my process a lot easier and allowed me to make two dishes: Fried Wontons and Wonton Soup.

How to make the wonton stuffing: I sauteed 2 spring onions, 2” grated ginger, 1 bulb of minced garlic and 1/2 tbsp of red chili flakes in sesame oil.  Once the onions were translucent, I added a pound of ground pork and cooked until brown.  Meanwhile, in my food processor, I shaved up 3 handfuls of baby carrots and half of a very small red cabbage.  The food processor vegetable mixture was moved to a large mixing bowl with some black pepper and Sriracha to taste.  I then put my browned pork and half a box of mushrooms through the food processor and then combined all of the ingredients in my mixing bowl.

The top left photo illustrates “How To” roll a wonton, though if you need any help, Chow has a great instructional video on YouTube! Don’t overfill- 1 teaspoon is the perfect amount! For the “glue” to seal the edges, I used a slurry of water, egg and a little sesame oil.

If you’re going to fry the wontons: fill a sided skillet or pot with an inch of oil and bring to medium heat.  Add wontons with a slotted spoon very quickly.  Total cooking time is 3-4 minutes, turning halfway through.  I fried up about 8 wontons at a time, leaving room for easy flipping and easy monitoring.  The noodle should be golden brown before you transfer your crispy wonton to a paper towel. Serve with soy sauce and Sriracha.

If you’re going to make wonton soup: prepare two stockpots, one large, one medium.  Bring the large stockpot to a boil with just water; you’ll be cooking the wontons in here.  Meanwhile, bring your medium stockpot to a low boil with a meat or vegetable stock of choice; I used chicken and seasoned it with black and white pepper.  When your large stockpot reaches a boil, add the wontons, lightly scraping the bottom with a spoon so none stick;  make sure to use well-sealed wontons in your soup, as the sloppy ones will fall apart.  Once the wontons rise to the top, they can be removed with a slotted spoon and added to your chicken stock.  Serve with sliced spring onions, Sriracha or soy sauce.