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Writer's pictureKonky's Creative Kitchen

Pork & Cabbage Wontons

The most sought-after Chinese dish here in the USA is wonton soup. It's rich in flavor, soothing, and always has the perfect mouthfeel of comfort food. Folks love enjoying this as an appetizer at their favorite restaurant. But, what if you wanted to make this at home? It doesn't take intricate ingredients, or special techniques, and certainly can be budget-friendly to make at home!


Wontons are known for being fried or steamed in a hot bowl of soup. In China, there are multiple regions with different fillings, condiments, and folding techniques. Sealing the wontons is actually pretty easy to do and when everything else is fully prepped, this comes together so fast! Even other Asian countries have their version of both fried and steamed as well. For today's version, I am making the Cantonese style of wontons with ground pork as the soup option.


The how-to video can be found on my Youtube channel.


PLEASE NOTE: You will need either square or circle-shaped Hong Kong-style wonton/dumpling wrappers for this. They are made with egg to have that beautiful egg color. You can find them at your local Asian market or ordered online to have them shipped directly to your home.


Demonstrating wontons being made
The makings of pork and cabbage wontons

WONTON INGREDIENTS:

1lb (453g) Ground pork* (80/20)

2 Eggs, large

4-6oz Napa Cabbage, finely chopped

3oz Oyster Sauce 2oz Tamari 2oz Garlic, pureed

2oz Ginger, pureed

1oz Chinkiang Vinegar

1 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice

Kosher Salt & White pepper, pinch


1 QT Water

40-50 Wonton wrappers - or make your wonton dough with 200g AP flour with 100g hot water, three egg yolks, and a pinch of salt. Form a dough, roll it out, and use a 3" round cutter for wrappers


SOUP INGREDIENTS:

2 QT Chicken Stock (or Fish, Beef, Pork, etc)

1-1 1/2lb (453g-680g) Vegetables of choice, diced or julienne

What I used:

8oz/226g Cabbage, shredded

8oz/226g Beansprouts, rinsed and drained well

4-6oz/113g-170g Onions, sliced thin

4oz/113g Carrots, peeled, sliced thin

1 Scallion bunch, thin bias cut


1.) Prep all of your wonton ingredients into one mixing bowl. Be mindful that this requires minced and/or pureed mise en place. Mix this aggressively to develop myosin: small fibrous protein strands in the meat mixture. If you still see the ground pork looking like it came out of the package, you did not mix it enough. Keep mixing until smooth, similar to a paste. This can take about five to ten minutes to achieve a cohesive mixture. Make sure to take out your wonton wrappers from the fridge so they can come up to room temperature to work with. Open the wonton wrappers but cover with a tea towel to prevent drying out.


2.) Set up a large pot on the stove, and add your quart of water. There needs to be enough room for this to gently boil for simmering. This will be used for boiling your wontons. Set this up on your stove.


3.) Set up a soup pot and add your stock. Set this up on your stove.


FOLDING DIRECTIONS: 1.) With a sheet pan or baking sheet, gently coat in cornstarch. This will be where you place your hand-formed wontons as you prep. Set up a small glass or shot glass of water to the side of your cutting board. Take your bowl of wonton mix out and bring it to your work area.


2.) You will lightly wet the frame of the wonton skin with water. This will moisten the cornstarch on the wonton skin and help act like a "glue" for when you are forming the wonton.


3.) Apply about 1 TB/1 1/2 TB of pork filling to the middle of the wonton skin. Do not spread the filling.


4.) Watch the video for the folding technique performed. You will gently pinch a small area of the edge of the wonton wrapper at the top. Pressing each side to remove air, you will seal the wonton wrapper.


5.) Gently wet one side of the folded wonton. Lightly press the bottom of the folded wonton with your finger to create an indent. Bring the two corners together and pinch.




6.) After you have formed your wontons, place them on the cornstarch-covered sheet pan. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used.


7.) Turn the soup stock pot on and add your vegetables. Set the heat to have a gentle simmer.


8.) Turn the stovetop on to bring the water to a boil. Then reduce the heat to allow a gentle boil. Carefully add your filled wontons to the pot. Set your timer for approximately five minutes. As they begin to float to the top, allow another one to two minutes before removing. Place on a plate that has been lightly coated in sesame oil. This will help the wontons avoid sticking.


9.) Ladle some vegetable soup into a bowl. Place cooked wontons directly into the bowl.


OPTIONS: Instead of soup, you can easily bowl up some of the wontons and drizzle on your favorite dipping sauces (My website has options to choose from). These can be added to a soup already made.


Soup base can be left just as stock or you can add your favorite Asian ingredients like fish sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce, chili oil, and a few garnishes to finish it off.








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