How to make Wonton

Northern Chinese people like dumplings, while southern Chinese like Wonton. In China wonton have a lot of different names and different ways to wrap them. In addition, there are small and large wonton in Shanghai: in small ones the filling is just ground pork or a fancy one is shrimp.  We eat them as breakfast. When I was a child in the market I remember old ladies would wrap these small wonton on site just using one hand (you don't see this much anymore).  I occasionally bought 50g to take home and cook for a fancy  breakfast. The filling for large wontons can vary, but it usually is ground pork with all kinds of vegetables. It’s good for a weekend lunch, especially on a cold day. 

Unlike northern people who make the dumpling dough by themselves, we just used store-bought wonton wrappers. We only needed to prepare the filling.  The way I describe is what my parents always did when I was a kid. This is how I learned to wrap them.  

 

                                prepared filling

                                 wonton wrapper

 

Using a finger, dip some water and wet the edge of wonton wrapper so you can seal it later.  Put some filling in the middle of the wonton wrapper, for homemade wonton you always put a lot of filling,not like the skinny store-bought ones.

   

Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge and seal it.  Then with two hands move the left and right corners to overlap together and seal those.

      

 

Make the shape like"Yuan bao" [an ancient Chinese ingot currency], or a nurse's hat,so they can stand up.  Every wonton when puffed up is so cute.

Vegetable and meat wonton 

yield: 50(serve 3-4 )

Ingredients:

for pork：

300g ground pork

2 stalk green onion  chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2tspsugar

1/2 tsp ginger powder              

1/4 tsp white pepper  

1tsp cooking wine     

Stir ground pork and other ingredients only in one direction until it becomes sticky 

for vegetable：

150g cabbage or bok choy  

50g mushroom   chopped

Chop finely add 1tsp salt, let sit for a while then squeeze the liquid out of it. and add to the pork mixture and mushroom mix well. that's the fillings. 

wrap the wonton as described above 

for soup:

chicken or vegetable stock

1 egg（fried then sliced)

dash dried small shrimps

dash seaweed

dash sesame oil

dash white pepper

Boil the water then add the wonton cook to 3-5 mins or until the wonton float.  

add the cooked wonton to the hot soup stock and add other ingredients. serve immediately. 

2013 Chinese New Year Dinner

Feb. 9th will be CNY(Chinese New Year)eve.It's a really important day for most Chinese people. Actually I haven't had a CNY eve banquet for many years, because I love travel more than the food, so I always used the vacation to travel with my friends.My parents they didn't care that I was absent. Our family is kind of unusual in this way.

But this year we are in the UK which is a new home for both of us. I miss the CNY atmosphere from when I was a kid because CNY was really exciting. I'm returning to the tradition now I'm older. So I decided to invite all the guests from my last year supper clubs to celebrate and share the CNY tradition and food together with us.

We will have 9-10 guests who have different dietary restrictions: vegan、gluten free、vegetarian、orange allergy. It's a challenge for me.

Here is the menu we will serve:
Spinach with ginger sauce(酱汁菠菜）
spinach、fresh ginger sauce、sesame、soy sauce、sesame oil

Hot and sour cucumber （蓑衣黄瓜）
The shape is like a Chinese straw rain coat.

Stir fried vegetables with five spices （炒素）
Black wood ear、shiitake mushroom、lily flower、tofu skin、carrots、jujube、peanuts
These are traditional and very nutritious Chinese ingredients

Deep fried aubergine with vegan garlic bread crumbs （避风塘茄子）
Hong Kong style food

Vegan Mapo Tofu（麻婆豆腐）
Soft Tofu、shiitake mushroom、celery、chill、black bean sauce

Knotted kelp salad(凉拌海带结）
Kelp, garlic, vinegar, sugar, chili, sesame oil
Kelp includes over 70 minerals, trace elements, enzymes, iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and 21 amino acids

Slow cooked beef shin with five spice(卤牛肉）
This cooked for several hours with many spices (more than just five), then sliced and served cold.

Yuan yang shrimp（鸳鸯虾）
This is also called red and white shrimp, because the shrimp are cooked two different ways and placed together on the plate, separated by snow peas. It symbolizes affection and happiness, so is good for the New year.

Stewed chicken in the pot（鸡公煲）
Simmered with bell pepper, onion, celery, seasonings, chili sauce and most importantly, beer.

Rice

Dessert:
Isfahan sorbet
Rosewater, lychee and raspberries

Are you hungry now?