Recipe: Wontons!

On the rare occasion I am blessed with a free Sunday afternoon I make Wontons. I learned the traditional recipe ages ago from a Chinese cookbook of my Fathers. I have adapted the recipe to include more diverse ingredients and crowd-pleasing fillings. I recently made a Bacon-Cheese-Burger Wonton for the Superbowl (Go Pats!). In the past I have made a traditional Asian-Style filling with pork, ginger and scallions. Other ideas for filling could also be made with include spinach and feta, crab rangoon mixture, or cabbage.

There are a number of ways to stuff wontons, and I have tried my best to document and explain below. The key to Wontons is not to overfill them, trust me it will be tempting – a solid seal is better than filling oozing out into your cooking liquid.

We cook Wontons one of two ways. We either boil the wontons in water until they rise to the top of the pan (about two minutes), and fry the bottom of the wontons in Canola Oil (Saute-style, not deep-fried). The other way is much more decadent; deep frying. Deep-frying the Wontons creates a golden crispy wrapper similar to a Crab Rangoon.

Serve these wontons with hot sauce and bleu cheese for dipping, or enjoy them on their own! They are cheesy, smoky from the bacon, and juicy from the beef! Wontons can be frozen and cooked in the boiling water, saute method.

Ingredients:

½ lb. 80% Ground Chuck
2 pieces of thick-cut Bacon (diced small)
2 tbsp. Relish
1 tbsp. Worcester Sauce
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Dash of Hot Sauce (any will do, we like Texas Pete)
1 Egg
1 Small bunch of Scallions (diced)
3 ounces of Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Cut into cubes about the size of a dice).
3.5 Cups of Canola Oil
Warm Water
1 Package of Wonton Wrappers
*These can be found in the tofu section of the grocery store, we like the SQUARE ones*

In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the Ground Chuck, Hot Sauce, Scallions, Bacon, Relish, Salt and Pepper, Egg, and Worcester Sauce.
Prepare your work surface by wrapping the wonton wrappers in a damp paper towel (this prevents the wrappers from drying out), placing a small bowl of warm water to dip your fingers in to seal the wontons. Also, keep a damp paper towel handy on a plate to cover the assembled wontons as you go. Keep the cheese and meat mixture in a small bowl nearby.
After setting up your assembly station; take a wonton in the palm of your non-dominant hand and place it so that the corner is pointed towards your wrist. Place one cube of cheese in the center of the wonton, add a small amount of meat mixture.
Using your dominant hand, wet the edge of the wrapper with the warm water, this will help to seal the wonton.
Fold the wonton in half, pinching the top edge and the bottom edge together and pushing the air out of the wonton creating a tight seal between the filling and wrapper.
Fold the corners of the triangle up.
Place completed wonton under damp paper towel on plate. Continue assembling wontons while keeping wrappers and assembled-wontons under damp paper towels.
Heat 3.5 cups of Canola Oil in a deep stock pot.
Test the temperature of the oil by flicking a small amount of water into the pot, if the water sizzles and the oil bubbles it is hot enough. Save yourself the trouble, let the oil heat up!
Slowly lower the Wontons one at a time into the hot oil with a slotted spoon or Fryer Skimmer. At first the wontons may appear to stick together, as they cook they will come apart.
When the wontons are golden brown, remove them and place them to drain on a paper towel.
Serve with hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, BBQ Sauce, or whatever you desire!