Serves: 5
Total Calories: 416

Wontons: Skins
Wontons: Basic Filling

A wanton consists of a skin 2 or 3 inches square, made with flour and eggs, that's filled with a meat or seafood mixture and then cooked. When assembled and folded, the wanton looks like a wisp of cloud. Its Chinese name is "cloud bird" or "cloud swallow."

Wantons can be cooked in various ways: boiled in soup for dinner, or with congee for breakfast deep-fried and topped with a sweet-and-pungent sauce or steamed and served as a luncheon dish or teatime snack. In Southern China, a whole meal of wantons, with about 12 to 15 served per person, becomes a Sunday supper or holiday lunch.

PREPARING THE SKINS:
As with eggrolls, the wanton skins are made first, then the fillings and the skins can either be prepared at home or purchased ready-made. (One pound averages 75 to 80 wanton skins.) Instead of buying the special wanton skins, some cooks use the regular 8-inch square eggroll sheets, which, when cut in four 2-inch squares, are just the right size for wantons.

PREPARING THE FILLINGS:
The following ingredients in various combinations may be used as wanton fillings:

Meats-Beef, chicken, lean pork or roast pork.
Seafood-Crabmeat, fish fillets, lobster or shrimp.
Vegetables-Celery, Chinese lettuce, leeks, onions.

FOLDING THE WONTONS:

METHOD I:
1. Hold the wanton skin in the palm of your left hand with the lower corner pointing toward you.
2. Place about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of filling slightly below the center of the skin.
3. Moisten the two adjacent edges of the skin with beaten egg or other sealing agent (see below). Fold wonton skin diagonally in half to form a triangle.
4. Press the edges to seal, while at the same time gently pressing out any air pockets around the filling.
5. Brush a bit of the sealing agent on the front of the triangle's right corner and on the underside or back of the left corner.
6. With a twisting action, bring the two moistened surfaces together and pinch to seal.

METHOD II:
1. Hold the wonton skin as above.
2. With a knife or chopstick held in your right hand, scoop up about 1/2 teaspoon of filling and place it slightly below the center of the wonton skin.
3. Fold the lower corner over the knife then pull the knife out, pressing the skin against it gently so the knife emerges clean.
4. Fold the upper corner of the skin down over the lower corner.
5. Dip the knife or chopstick in sealing agent, and use it to moisten the underside of the skin's left corner and the topside of its right corner.
6. Hold the left corner between thumb and index finger of the left hand, and the right corner in the same way with the right hand. Then, with a twisting motion, bring the two moistened surfaces together and pinch to seal.

SEALING THE WONTON:
Any of the following may be used:
* 1 to 2 tablespoons whole egg, beaten
* 1 to 2 tablespoons egg white, unbeaten
* A thin cornstarch paste made with 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water
* A flour paste made with 1 tablespoon flour and 2 tablespoons water

COOKING THE WONTONS:

TO BOIL:
1. Drop the wantons into vigorously boiling salted water. (Add them gradually so as not to lower the temperature too abruptly.)
2. Cook until they float (about 10 minutes).

NOTE: For soup, boil the wantons as above, then drain well and add to the soup 1 or 2 minutes before serving. Or parboil the wantons for 2 minutes then add to hot soup and simmer 5 to 10 minutes to complete the cooking.

TO DEEP-FRY:
1. Heat oil for deep-frying to 375 degrees. Add the won tons a few at a time.
2. Reduce heat to medium and deep-fry until golden on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon drain on paper toweling.

TO DEEP-FRY BOILED WONTONS:
1. Boil as above. Place in a colander. Rinse with cold water. Drain and dry well (or they will spatter in the hot oil).
2. Deep-fry as above.

TO PAN-FRY:
1. Boil the wantons as above then rinse and dry.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil.
3. Add the boiled wantons several at a time and brown on both sides.

TO STEAM:
1. Place the won tons one layer deep on a lightly oiled heatproof platter. Allow enough space between them so they will not stick together.
2. Steam 10 to 15 minutes (see HOW-TO, _Steaming).

TO BRAISE:
1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add won tons and brown quickly on both sides.
2. Add 1/2 cup stock or water and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cook, covered, until done (3 to 5 minutes).

SERVING THE WONTONS:
* Serve deep-fried wantons with hot mustard, plum sauce or a sweet-and pungent sauce (see Seasonings and Sauces, Sweet-and-Pungent Sauces).
* Serve boiled wontons in individual bowls with clear soup. Garnish with Chinese parsley.
* Serve boiled wantons with a vinegar-soy dip or serve them covered with lobster sauce (see Seasonings and Sauces).

STORING THE WONTONS:
Boiled wantons will keep refrigerated for several days. Drain them well and spread on a plate with space between them so they will not stick to one another. Sprinkle with a few drops of cold water and cover with transparent wrap.

Deep-fried wantons may be completely prepared in advance, then cooled, wrapped in foil and frozen. They can be reheated without preliminary thawing either by placing them in a slow oven or by immersing them briefly in hot oil. Leftover deep-fried wantons can be treated in the same way.

STORING WONTON SKINS:
Wanton skins will keep about 2 weeks if wrapped well and refrigerated. They may also be wrapped and frozen but must be thawed completely before using.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 5
Total Calories: 416
Calories from Fat: 134

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
Eggrolls
Eggrolls: Skins
Eggrolls: Skins-uncooked
Eggrolls: Stir-Fried Chicken Filling
Eggrolls: Stir-Fried Pork And Shrimp Filling
Eggrolls: Stir-Fried Roast Pork And Shrimp Filling
Eggrolls: Stir-Fried Shrimp Filling
Eggrolls: Uncooked Pork Filling I
Eggrolls: Uncooked Pork Filling II
Eggrolls: Uncooked Roast Pork Filling
Eggrolls: Uncooked Shrimp Filling
Spring Roll Skins
Wontons
Wontons: Basic Filling
Wontons: Skins