Two ways with Wontons

Wontons are one of our favourite snacks, and we enjoy them in all their glorious avtaars, potstickers (Gyoza), Red(Chili) Oil wontons, boiled and doused with fiery chili dressing and the simple but nourishing Wonton Soup. Here is a picture of chili oil wonton that I found on a Chinese Restaurant menu. I have never tried these ones outside home as I have yet to find a vegetarian version, but it is one of the most popular dishes in Sichuan Restaurants in Singapore.

Wonton in Chili Oil

Wonton soup was available only in a few chinese restaurants in India, during my childhood days. I still remember the fun I had with my cousins competing to see who could manage the whole wonton in a go. A delicately flavoured,clear soup makes a light accompanient to these little beauties .

Wonton in Soup
For both the above, the first step is to make wontons. If you cannot find readymade wonton wrappers, make a smooth dough with plain flour and cornflour in the ratio of 4:1, using water, roll into thin rotis and cut using a square cookie cutter.

Vegetarian Wontons

18 to 20 wonton wrappers
1/2 cup each carrots, cabbage, French beans,
1 tsp each ginger & garlic
1 tsp oil
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil, fry ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add all the other vegetables. Cook for a few minutes. All salt at the end to avoid it becoming a watery mess. Let cool before using.

Wrapping the Wonton
Wontons can be folded in many different ways. The one below works well for soup and the chili oil version below. It's original name in Chinese is chāo shǒu , which literally translates to folded hands. Poetic, isn't it ?

1. Put around one heaped teaspoon of filling in the center of a thawed wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in some water and lightly wet the edges to help them seal.

2. Fold it in half , by joining the opposite corners to form a triangle

3. Now, pick it up holding one corner in each hand and in one swift motion bring the two corners together and stick them by pressing firmly. Use a dab of water if the wontons are dry and cannot stick properly.

4. Make all of them similarly. You can freeze them at this stage if you like. Don't they look so cute with their folded hands? And like ultaa nurse caps!

Chili Oil Wonton
To make 2 servings, we need:
Wontons 9 to 10, wrapped as described above, with your choice of filling
For the sauce, mix together the following
Light Soy Sauce 2 tbsp
Chili Paste, 1 tsp
Chili oil ,3 tsp
To make chili oil at home , heat 1/4 cup oil, (preferably peanut) to smoking, switch off the gas and add 5 broken dried red chillies. Strain after two hours and use. Keeps for a month

Method:
Bring some water to a boil, drop the wontons a few at a time and cook till they float up on their own.
Scoop a few wonton a bowl.Pour half the sauce over them, top with chopped green onions, a little crushed peanut and (optional) fried onions.

Eat!

Wonton Soup

For wonton soup, first make vegetable stock, by simmering 1/2 cup of any or all of your favourite vegetables, 2 cloves of garlic, one onion, whole sichuan pepper (or 2 cloves and a few peppercorns) in around 4 cups of water. Strain and use when the water is reduced to about 3 cups.
Some vegetables I like to use for stock are:
Carrot, Potato, Asparagus, Leeks, Shitake Mushroom

Bring the stock to boil, season to taste with salt, pepper and light soya sauce.Divide the wontons between the serving bowls, and top with the hot stock. You can add a few leaves of spinach too, they taste lovely in this soup, and can add cubed tofu/paneer as well. Top with green onions. Slurppp!

Update:

If you do not have light soya sauce, then this might work:

dark soy sauce: 3/4 tsp

salt: 1/4 tsp

water: 3 Tbsp

Mix all the above and use instead of 4 tbsp of light soy.

Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries has a soy sauce primer , describing the various types of soy sauce and how they differ.

These are my second entry to AWED Chinese hosted by DK. The first was Chili Garlic noodles.