Viola Grace
Once upon a time there was a writer whose best friend was a bunny that could not cook. Try though she might, the bunny just didn't have the urge to make food that she could pick up at a kiosk or a restaurant. The writer despaired as the bunny was always hungry, snacking on things that had far too many preservatives.
She suddenly had a wonderful idea. Since the bunny was supportive of her writing, she told the bunny that her services were needed to test recipes. The silly bunny agreed and so now we have the next installment of Cooking with the Test Bunny.
Deep Fried Spicy Pork Wontons December 31st, 2009
Knife selection is an issue, and I am thinking that moving up my szechuan beef stew is a good idea. More practice slicing a variety of vegetables will create comfort with the cutting blades. The bunny has a phobia of knives, so is timid when slicing. Comfort can fight fear and as long as she is cautious, we should be able to move beyond the pervasive hesitancy.
Warming Wonton Soup
Rescue some Wontons from the fryer for this recipe...the soup is super simple and fantastic on cold days.
4 cups of chicken stock
9 spicy pork wontons
1 tsp chili sauce (Sriracha Sauce preferred)
Garnish: Minced green onion
Heat the chicken stock to a high simmer, add the chili sauce. Stir to combine. Add the wontons and simmer for five minutes if fresh, eight minutes if frozen.
Immediately before serving, sprinkle with minced green onion.
Serves 3
Filling:
1/2 pound ground pork
2 green onions minced fine
1/2 Tbsp chili sauce (Sriracha Sauce preferred)
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 package wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil for deep frying (750ml - 1L)
1 Tbsp corn starch dissolved in 4 Tbsp water
Mix all of the filling ingredients together until they are well blended (you don't want a lump of chili sauce making it's way into your wonton). Open wonton wrappers and in the centre of each, place 1/2 teaspoons of the filling. If you over fill the wonton, it will rupture when you fry it.
With a silicone basting brush, paint the water/cornstarch mix onto two connecting sides of the wonton and then fold the wonton into a diamond shape making sure that the damp sides make complete contact with the dry sides.
Repeat until you have sealed all of the wontons or used all of the meat. Only have a few wontons laid out at at time, or they will dry out before you can seal them. If they are dry when you try and seal them, they will open and leak during the frying process.
***If you want to keep any wontons for another day or to make soup with, this is the time to put them into a zip top freezer bag and slip them into a freezer. Label them clearly and save them for another day. The fried wontons are best eaten fresh, the same day they are created.***
Heat the frying oil to 350 degrees in a large pot/dutch oven using a candy thermometer to monitor the heat. (if you don't have a thermometer you can cheat and use a kernel of unpopped popcorn. The popcorn goes off at 350 degrees, so when it goes off, fish it out and get to work) DO NOT LEAVE THE HOT OIL UNATTENDED!
Slide six or more wontons into the hot oil at a time and fry each side for 2-3 minutes. You will be able to tell by the browning. When they are done on both sides remove from the oil and place them on a baking rack on top of a cookie sheet. Repeat until all of the wontons are done.
Serve with plum sauce and/or chili sauce...try and eat just one. I dare you.