Fried Wonton

1 lb. egg roll or wonton skins

 

Meat Filling

3/4 lb. lean raw pork, chopped very fine or ground

2 green onions, white only, chopped very fine

1 egg, beaten (save a tiny amount to seal wrapper)

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

 

Mix pork and onions thoroughly.  Add egg, salt, and pepper, and mix.

 

Seafood Filling

1/2  lb. raw fish fillet, chopped very fine

1/2 lb. raw shrimp (or crab meat), chopped very fine

2 green onions, chopped very fine

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 egg, beaten (save a tiny amount to seal wrapper)

Sprinkle of salt and pepper.

 

Mix fish, shrimp, and onion thoroughly.  Mix other ingredients and add to seafood mixture.

 

Crab Rangoon

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2  lb. crab meat

5 to 6 dashes Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp. Japanese Five Spices powder

1/4  tsp. garlic powder

 

Soften cream cheese.  Pick over crab meat.  Mix together thoroughly.

 

If using egg roll skins, cut stack of skins in quarters.  To fill, place 2 teaspoon filling in center.  Fold as described below.  Be careful not to fill too full.  Less instead of more filling is better as they fry very fast.  At this point you can freeze them on trays and then place in boxes or bags to store.  Thaw on tray and fry.  Fry in deep oil at about 350 degrees until skins are brown.  These keep warm in a 250 degree oven, uncovered, for several hours without noticeable deterioration.  Serve with duck sauce and Chinese hot mustard.

 

Folding--Filling should be in center.  Fold skin in thirds lengthwise.  Bring double folded corners together.  Moisten with egg and press together.  This forms the characteristic "nurse's cap" shape.  An alternate way is to fold the skin diagonally corner to corner to form a triangle.  Corners should be side by side rather than being matched together.  Bring the corners on the fold  down under the filled portion until they meet.  Moisten with egg and press together.  I like this method.

Fried wontons are one of the few oriental dishes the boys liked as children when I was in an oriental cooking phase.  For a while I tried to cook stir fry or some other oriental dish at least once a week.  The boys were not thrilled but they were tolerant of my enthusiasms.  I'll never forget the first time it was Adam's turn to clean up the kitchen after an oriental dinner.  He must have been about 10.  He leaned over to Kenny sitting next to him and whispered, "Is that Chinese stuff hard to get off the plates?"