The art of making wontons

Making wonton soup was my alternative to the classic Aussie Sunday roast. Don't get me wrong I love roast on Sundays. But being an asian kid, growing up, you ate whatever your mum fed you, and in my case; instead of the meat and three veg, I had gingered beef with rice, and instead of apricot chicken, I had chicken red curry. So on most Sunday's Mum would made 'goi dieu' which is your Cambodian version of the Vietnamese 'pho'. A hot, steamy beef or chicken based broth infused with ginger, galangal, garlic and fish sauce to taste, ladled on a bowl of freshly strained rice or egg noodles, which had been sitting in a pot of bowling water only seconds before. The bowl of steaming noodle soup was then usually finished by chucking a few herbs of spring onions and coriander on top, with a touch condiments, like chillie sauce and lemon to your personal liking. So where does the wonton come in, you ask? Well, I discovered the delightful package of dumplings, during a birthday party. While the kids were stuffing their faces silly with lollies, chips, chocolate and the whatnots expected at a 10 year old's party - I was with the adults, consuming these little bundles of joy that were served in a small bowl with soup; not know what they were or what was in it, except that they tasted oh so good!
And that my friends, was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between me and wontons.

Making wontons is a beautiful art in which I have learnt to love and appreciate. Like ravioli, tortellini used in pasta dishes, you can make your wonton into many different shapes and use different fillings, such as pork, chicken, prawn, crab and lobster - I usually stick to chicken. They are also extremely versatile, as you can boil, steam, pan fry and deep fry them - they make fantastic appetisers at dinner parties.

Get your ingredients together...

Wonton Skins

Spring onions

add some fish & oyster sauces and ground some pepper to chicken mince

roll mixture into balls and place in middle of wonton wrapper

THE FOLDING

put mixture of chicken and ingredients mention above and fold into triangles using your index finger moistened with water to seal the sides

aren't they gorgeous, they look like stingrays on a chopping board..

bring the two ends of the triangle together using a dab of water to stick and then flick them up and you get a little boat

many moment laters of filling and folding you will have a bouquet of wontons..

And assuming you know how to make the broth and cook the wontons and noodles in boiling water, you will end up with something looking similar to this...