Man I love me some Wontons! Making them can be a bit tedious and quite time consuming, but still, they just fly off the plate and into your mouth. Here is how I do it:

You’re going to need wanton wrapper. They usually come in packs of 50 I believe at most grocery stores. I usually find them near the tofu in the produce section. You can get them at an asian grocer too and they may have different varieties and be cheaper. The Hamtpon Oriental Market sells them frozen in packs of 100 for a bit cheaper than the regular grocery stores around here.

I usually use Pork but sometimes I may use shrimp or a mixture of pork and shrimp. You can get ground pork or some pork loin and grind it yourself in a food processor. I fry that up in the wok or pan being careful to make sure it doesn’t clump together; a fork is helpful with this. Once it is good and cooked I’ll drain it and remove from the wok leaving a bit of fat in there.

I typically chop up some garlic, cabbage and mushrooms into very small pieces and grate a carrot and some ginger; careful to keep all components separate. I fire up the wok again and drop in the garlic for a few seconds and then add the cabbage and carrots. Stir fry that for a minute or so and then add the mushrooms. Another minute or so and I add to that the ginger and some soy sauce. Finally I readd the pork to mix it all together and toss in a pinch or two of chinese five spice powder.

Becareful not to use too much soysauce and make the mixture to wet. Regardless, after letting it cool you’ll want to drain off any liquid before filling the wantons.

This is when it starts to get a bit tedious, especially if you are making a lot of wontons. Follow the directions on the wrapper on how to fill and shape the wontons. Usually I get a small dish of water, lay the wonton down, dip my finger in the water and coat the edges of the wonton wrapper with the water. I put about a teaspoon of filling down, being careful not to overfill. Fold one corner to the opposite corner making a triangle. Press down the edges, pull the three corners in and pinch them togther. It’s that simple.

I head up some peanut oil in the wok or frying pan (you could probably use a deep fat fryer for this if you want). I typically use enough to cover the wonton’s about halfway. Drop the wontons in for a few minutes and then turn. I typcially fry them until they turn a light golden brown. Your taste may varry.

Serve with plum or duck sauce and enjoy!

I love to cook. For those who have listened faithfully to TLLTS the past year have probly heard me chopping and sizzling my way in the kitchen since my wife has been attending classes Wednesday nights. I love to cook Southeast Asian and South American cuisines the most. The colors, the different ingredients, all appeal to me. I can get lost for hours in the local Asian market, much to my daughters’ chagrin both who want to bolt within five minutes because it smells too fishy.

One of my favourite dishes is Dashi. Dashi is a type of broth made from shaved benito and seaweed. I usually make the dashi the night before starting with 5 cups of boiling water. To that I add a nice size chunk of Kombu and a packet of shaved benito flakes. You can get benito flakes at most upscale grocers like Wegmans or an oriental grocer. I prefer the package that comes with individually portitioned packets. Becareful to read the ingredients as some times they throw other flavorings and spices in there like MSG. I prefer my benito straight.

I let it all boil for a minute then turn off the heat to sit for anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour or whenever I feel like finally straining it. Discard the flakes and kombo, they have finished their duty imparting the flavor to the broth.

The next day I take some chicken thighs, usually one or two per person and chop them up into nice 1 inch pieces. I prefer thighs because I find them the sweetest part of the chicken. Just enough meat with some fat. I like cutting the meat from the bone myself. Some recipies have you remove the skin, but I like to keep it. That’s just me.

I also cut up some bokchoy into mouthful size pieces along with whatever else I feel like putting in at the time: Carrots, green onions, yellow onions, and always shitaki mushrooms. WIth the shatakis I remove the stem and score the caps with an “X” careful to not cut through the cap. Sometimes I will add a bit of lemon grass to give it a tart taste.

I usually prepare the noodles I am going to use. Sometimes chinese egg noodles, sometimes bean threads or maybe udon. Whatever catches my fancy that day. Prepare those as per the package, weigh on the under done side. While the noodles are cooking I usually prepare the rest.

I boil the dashi with 3 tbls of both Light and Dark Soy sauce. Sometimes I may add a dash of sugar to sweeten it or a few shots of Mirin. I throw the chicken in there for about 10 minutes. If I am using carrots I’ll throw those in about 7 minutes or so because they require a bit more cooking than the rest. If I am using lemon grass I will add that now so the flavor escapes. Crush it up a bit to release the oils.

After the chicken is cooked I’ll add the onions and green onions, bokchoy and shitaki’s for a few minutes. At this point I usually cover the pot for a bit until the added vegetables are finished. I make sure not to overdo the vegetables retaining some crunch.

Finally I add the noodles, take it off the head and mix it all up. Serve in bowls with chopsticks and damn is that some good eating. Make sure you remove the lemon grass before serving.