HEY!
wonton noodles
wonton-\ˈwän-ËŒtän\
origin-China
home cooking - episode 01
mom, this is for you.
We'll start off with the mushrooms and finish with the chives. Drooling is ok but is not encouraged. These photos are captured raw with love. Call me if you have questions.
Ready? (you gonna want to see the last photo!)
Before we get to the ground pork, I like to handle my mushroom business by giving them a great sauté in hot & creamy butter with some salt & peppers (S&P).​​
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Mushroom used: shiitake.
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Substitution: wood-ear mushrooms.
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Seasoning: nothing specific, just S&P to your taste and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
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Tips: use your hands to squeeze all the water out of the shiitake before chopping them. Once done, let them sit for a bit before throwing them into your ground pork mix. A watery filling is the enemy of wontons as they will cause the wrap to unfold when being cooked, so squeezing the mushrooms will help to reduce the amount of water. And don't worry, you're not losing the sweetness because they're not cooked yet!
Use your food processor to slightly blend the pork, just about 10 times of pressing the chopping button, you should do the rest with your hand in a bowl and a spoon, find a man if you're tired.
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Whipping the ground pork: follow 1 clockwise direction & whip until your spoon starts to carry the pork as if they look like strings of thread.
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Substitution: ground chicken.
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Seasoning: olive oil, chopped onions, S&P, the saute-ed mushrooms from step 1, garlic powder, some love potion.
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Tips: use fresh shrimps as 30% (70% ground pork) of your filling mixture for a more damp and tender bite (the meat of the shrimps are spongy & fluffy, it'll balance out your cooked ground pork). Also, the more you whip your pork, the better it tastes.
This was when mom jumped in with me :D. We made 56 of them in total.
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Buying the wrap: Chinatown. I visited the egg section of the Spadina & Dundas West Chinatown.
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Using the brush: the brush can be found at Chinatown as well. If you don't have one, just use your finger. No licking please.
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Tips: Notice how I have egg yolk at the tip of my brush, that's the secret. Use it instead of water to enhance the aroma of your wonton when you fry it. They also create better colour! When wrapping, try your best to seal the mouth of the wonton!
These are all wrapped babies! And so there's not much more I can say other than some tips below:​
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Keep the unused wraps refrigerated & sealed from air to prevent them from drying up.
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The better you seal the wonton's mouths, the more chance you'll end up with one-piece wontons after boiling. Otherwise you'll find meatballs and pieces of wraps floating around your pot. :D
See how the filling is sucked up to the wrap, here are some further tips:​
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Keep your filling in the fridge if you're not making the wontons right away.
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Make sure you're not using too much olive oil. I usually go for 2 circular rounds of over a mid-size metal bowl.
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When boiling the wontons, drop them in after the water is brought to boil. Then wait for them to float their bellies up, that's the sign of happiness.
When served with egg noodles & broth, I prefer my bowl to have the best of both world. So frying my wontons is the other side of happiness:​
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When frying, make sure your oil is hot before dropping them in.
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After 30s of full heat, reduce heat to 6 and let them sit for 2 minutes.
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Then turn side-way for 30s each and there you go!
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Or if you have a deep-fry machine, skip all of those steps above.
A favourite to go onto my bowl.​
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I prefer keeping the chive flowers and juicing the body.
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The chives' juice gives the broth a very earthy and light flavour. Balancing out your meaty filling and the heaviness of the fried wontons.
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Tips: use a gauze to hand-juice the chive bodies (the remaining 2/3 of the whole chives) after taking the flowers (the first 1/3) away to serve in bowl.
...throw them together! (don't forget to add some love)
BBQ Pork
from Chinatown
Egg Noodles
from Chinatown
Chives
The flowers
Wontons
best of both worlds:fried & boiled
Pork Bone Broth
clear & delicious
Shiitake
big slices