We first made this long ago when we still lived in Colorado. I was teaching at a technical college. Once a year we would be invited to the boss’s holiday party and we felt like it was bad form not to bring something. Or maybe it was expected, I just don’t remember. Anyway we had made these fried wontons before and they were outstanding and we would not be embarrassed to bring them to the party.
We worked ALL DAY making them. Back then food processors weren’t invented yet. We had to chop everything by hand. Then had to fry them and made the whole kitchen smell of grease. (Nowadays, we rarely fry anything and if we do, we do so outside on the side burner of our gas grill… safer and it doesn’t smell up your kitchen.)
So we made two batches: over 100 wontons and brought them over to the party. They were gone in moments. The only remark we got was, “They were good. Why didn’t you make more?!?”
| Author: Jim Kirkley
Yield: 50 wontons |
Fried Wontons |
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound, ground pork
1/2 pound, shrimp – shelled, deveined and finely chopped
3 cloves, garlic – peeled
1 teaspoon, fresh ginger – peeled
3 carrots – coarsely chopped
3 stalks, celery – coarsely chopped
6 green onions – coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon, soy sauce
1 tablespoon, oyster sauce
1 teaspoon, red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon, sesame oil
1 package, wonton wrappers – (12 ounces)
1 whole egg
oil (for deep frying) – peanut oil or avocado oil works best here
Your favorite sweet and sour sauce
METHOD
- Place garlic, ginger, carrots, celery and green onions in food processor and pulse until finely minced.
- Mix minced vegetables, pork, shrimp, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Hands are best here.
- Break egg and whisk in a separate small bowl with a bit of water.
- Separate wonton skins.
- Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of the wonton.
- Brush egg on 2 adjoining borders of the skin, covering 1/4 inch from the edge.
- Fold skin over to form a triangle, sealing edges and pressing out air.
- Pinch the two long outside points together.
- Heat oil about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a heavy pan to 400 degrees and fry 4 to 5 at a time until golden.
- Drain and serve with sauce.
If you don’t have a thermometer to test the heat of the oil, insert a chopstick or wooden spoon. They won’t burn but if you see bubbles coming off the oil is hot enough to fry.
