This is the Chinese way to make wontons, as easy as it is, yet low in calories and taste delicious. Once you are familiar with the basic skill, there is no limit for wonton fillings, pork, chicken, fish, shrimp, oysters, crab, vegetables even cheese can be a filling.
Where I am from - Shanghai has a clear distinction between small wontons and large wontons. The small won tons (小馄饨), which we usually eat as our accompaniments to breakfast, but it's been adopted into a different eating habit in western country.
The commercial small won tons are casually wrapped by closing the palm on a wrapper with a dab of pork and vegetable filling as if crumpling a sheet of paper. Of course, we expect more fillings in home made won tons, just like those I made for my family.
The large won tons in Shanghai are available with more than 50 varieties of fillings, and a single bowl can serve as lunch or a light dinner.
A wonton (also spelled wantan, wanton, or wuntun in transcription from Cantonese). The Mandarin pronunciation is húntún, it is the irregular shape of dumpling. The wontons floating in the soup resemble the clouds; hence the name wonton, literally means "swallowing clouds".
Nutrtional Information:(5 wontons)
Calories: 270
Fat: 16g
Saturates: 5.0g
Cholesterol: 20mg
Carbohydrates: 23g
Protein: 7g
Sugar: 2g
Ingredients:
1 pack of wonton pastry(wonton wrapper or skin).
Filling:
1. 250 g(1/2 pound) lean pork mince;
2. 1 tablespoon soy sauce;
3. 1 tablespoon oyster sauce;
4. a few drops sesame oil;
5. 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry;
6. 1/2 teaspoon sugar;
7. 3 green onion, finely chopped;
8. 1 teaspoon cornflour(starch);
9. dashes of ground pepper.
Ingredients For Soup Bowls:(per bowls)
1. 1 teaspoon chopped fresh coriander(cilantro);
2. a few drops sesame oil;
3. salt to taste;
4. 1 teaspoon chill sauce(optional);
5. half teaspoon chicken powder or MSG;
6. some boiling water.
Directions:
1. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl, mixing well.
2. Lay one wonton pastry in front of you. Cover the remaining won ton skins with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out.
3. Moisten all the edges of the won ton wrapper with water if necessary. Place about your thumb size of wonton filling in the centre.
4. Fold the wonton wrapper into a triangle, making sure the ends meet. Press both sides firmly on the ends to seal.
5. Then fold your right side in the front and left side in the back. Press the middle to seal. The finish should look like a money bag. Repeat with remaining wontons.
To make wonton soup:
1. Prepare some soup bowls with the ingredients for soup bowls as detailed above except boiling water.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the wontons, making sure there is enough room for them to move about freely.
3. Bring the wontons to boil, add a cup of cold water and bring back to boil again or until they rise to the top and the filling is cooked through.
4. Slot the wontons into the soup bowls and add some boiling water. Stir to mix well with the ingredients in soup bowl, and serve hot.
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