Fried Wontons

Crispy, hot Fried Wontons filled with pork and shrimp instantly take me back to my childhood, and the delicious homemade wontons my friend’s mother would bring over to our house. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten wontons at a Chinese restaurant – it’s always been a homemade treat, which makes them extra special to me.

You’d think I would have made these wontons for the dumpling party our local San Diego food bloggers group held this past weekend. If only I’d had that forethought! Instead, I made steamed siu mai, one of my all-time favorite dim sum orders. But then I turned over the package of wonton wrappers, as I tend to do with any product, and discovered a wonton recipe on the back that called for nearly the same exact ingredients. Of course, I realized this after I’d already made my siu mai filling…no big deal, I made siu mai for the party on Saturday, wontons for the family on Sunday!

Wonton Ingredients

Here’s a look at what’s inside a wonton (I’ll be honest, I never really knew until I made them!). The ones I made had pork shoulder and shrimp, but you could always substitute beef, chicken or turkey if you prefer. Scallions and stir-fry sauce add flavor and water chestnuts bring texture. The cornstarch binds everything together. That’s it – pretty simple.

Wonton-assembly-580

Folding the wontons was a little more challenging (at least for me), but once I got the hang of it things moved rather smoothly. Ideally, it’s the kind of skill I’d prefer to learn while standing side by side with someone experienced – in the absence of that, we have YouTube:

After viewing this tutorial 4 or 5 times I felt confident enough to give it a go myself. I may not have gotten the nurse’s cap fold exactly “right”, but the good news is they taste the same no matter how you fold them…and even tastier dipped in sweet chili sauce (mmmm). Go ahead and give it a try!

Fried-Wontons-hipsta-580And in case you’re curious to see those siu mai I made for the dumpling party, here you go: 🙂
Siu Mai

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments

  1. I’m so glad you posted this.
    I have been wanting to make crab rangoon for like forever.
    I mean deep fried cream cheese, what’s not to like? lol

    Posted 2.26.13 Reply
    • I’m a big fan of crab rangoon too – they’re next on my list! If only I didn’t use up all my wonton wrappers, lol.

      Posted 2.26.13 Reply
  2. Angela wrote:

    I am so excited to try this one! I remember looking forward to our neighbor’s visits with wontons! As I recall, we exchanged fruit for wontons. I think we got the better deal 🙂

    Posted 2.26.13 Reply
    • Yeah, I think I’d take these over persimmons any day (although I’ve come to appreciate persimmons lately). 🙂

      Posted 2.26.13 Reply
      • Angela wrote:

        Just tried them! So easy to make!

        Posted 3.1.13 Reply
  3. Hey KAthy, These are gorgeous and full of such great flavors!

    Posted 2.27.13 Reply
  4. Carolyn wrote:

    These look amazing, Kathy. I really wish I could eat them! Or that someone would invent a low carb, gluten free wonton wrapper!

    Posted 2.27.13 Reply
  5. Amanda wrote:

    Yum!! Love these!!

    Posted 2.27.13 Reply
  6. Michael Strahs wrote:

    So good!

    Posted 2.27.13 Reply
  7. oh yes I LOVE fried won tons 🙂 these look yummy!

    Posted 2.28.13 Reply
  8. Jeanette wrote:

    These remind me of the fried wontons my mom’s friend used to make when I was growing up – nostalgia!

    Posted 2.28.13 Reply