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Wonton
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| Traditional Chinese: | 1. 餛飩 (Mandarin) 2. 雲吞 (Cantonese only) 3. 抄手 |
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| Simplified Chinese: | 1. 馄饨 (Mandarin) 2. 云吞 (Cantonese only) 3. 抄手 |
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| Literal meaning: | 1. Irregularly shaped dumpling 2. cloud swallow 3. crossed hands |
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A wonton (also spelled wantan, wanton, or wuntun in transcription from Cantonese; the Mandarin pronunciation is hundun) is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines.
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History
The wonton is believed to date back to 206 BC. 1 Others suggest it was introduced by the 17th century CE Qing Dynasty.2 The term wonton is believed to be the origin for Japanese udon1.
A wonton is made with a thin ten centimeter square lye-water pastry wrapper made of wheat flour, water, salt, and lye, and filled with savory minced meat, although vegetarian fillings can be substituted.
Preparation
Wrappers
Like any other form of wrap, wonton wrappers can be made at home from fresh dough. However, they are typically bought in large semi-cubical blocks of pre-made individual wrappers, with cornstarch dusted between the wrappers to keep them from sticking together. Because the wrappers are quite thin, they dry out within a few hours of opening the package, making them brittle and unusable.
Filling
The filling is typically made of:
- Minced pork
- Coarsely diced or whole shrimp
- Finely minced ginger and onions
- Sesame oil and soy sauce.
To make a wonton, spread a single wrapper square across the palm of one hand, place a small clump of filling in the center, and seal the wonton into the desired shape by compressing the wrapper's edges together with the fingers. Adhesion may be improved by moistening the wrapper's inner edges, typically by dipping one's fingertip into plain water and running it across the dry dough to dissolve the extra flour. As part of the sealing process, air should be "burped" out of the interior to avoid rupturing the wonton from internal pressure when cooked.
Shapes and cooking methods
Wontons are commonly boiled and served in soup or sometimes deep-fried. Several different shapes are common, depending on the region and cooking method.
The most versatile shape is a simple right triangle, made by bringing two opposite corners together to fold the square in half. Its flat profile allows it to be pan-fried like a potsticker, as well as boiled or deep-fried.
A more globular wonton can be formed by bringing all four corners together and sealing the inner edges together in that configuration, resulting in a shape reminiscent of a stereotypical hobo's bindle made by tying all four corners of a bandanna together. The much larger Australian deep-fried dim sim has a similar shape, but normal wontons in this configuration are more commonly served in soup.
A related kind of wonton is made by using the same kind of wrapper, but applying only a minute amount of filling (frequently meat) and quickly closing the wrapper-holding hand, sealing the wonton into an unevenly squashed shape. These are called xiao wountwun (literally "little wonton") and are invariably served in a soup, often with condiments such as pickles, ginger, sesame oil, and cilantro (coriander leaves).
Cuisine
Each region of China has its own variations of wonton, examples include Beijing, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Guangdong (Cantonese), Fujian etc.
Cantonese cuisine
In Cantonese cuisine, shrimp filled wonton is most commonly served with thin noodles to make wonton noodles. It is also consumed with red vinegar. The soup is made from boiling shrimp shells to give it a distinct taste. MSG maybe added to enhance the flavour. Hong Kong wontons were introduced to the area after World War II as street food and later indoor eateries.
Sichuan cuisine
In Sichuan, semi-pentagonal wonton are known as chāo shǒu (抄手, lit. "crossed hands" ) since after initially folding the wonton skin into a right triangle, each corner of the hypotenuse is pressed against the middle of the opposite side, creating an impression of crossed arms/hands. These are often served in a sesame paste and chili oil sauce as a dish called "red oil wonton" (红油抄手).
Shanghai Cuisine
In Shanghai, and its surrounding area(Jiangnan), Wonton filling is most often made with minced meat and Bok Choy served in chicken soup; however, Shanghai cuisine makes a clear distinction between "small wontons" (xiao hun tun) and "large wontons" (da hun tun). The former are casually wrapped by closing the palm on a wrapper with a dab of pork and vegetable filling as if crumpling a sheet of paper. These are popular accompaniments to breakfast or brunch fare. The "large" wontons are carefully wrapped (often resembling a large tortellini) and a single bowl can serve as lunch or a light dinner. They are available with a large variety of fillings; a popular Shanghai fast food chain offers more than 50 varieties.3 One popular variety in Shanghai which is said to have originated in Suzhou is "three delicacies wonton" (san xian hun tun)which contains pork, shrimp and fish as primary ingredients.4
Ningbo cuisine
Ningbo Wonton has two types, steamed Wonton and Wonton soup. Both are filled with pork and shrimp.5
North American Chinese cuisine
In American Chinese cuisine (and in Canada as well), wontons are served in two ways: in wonton soup (wontons in a clear broth), and as an appetizer called fried wontons. Fried wontons are often served without filling and eaten with duck sauce or Chinese mustard. Compared to the Far East versions, fried wontons are eaten dry. In Minnesota, Louisiana, California, Florida, New York and parts of Iowa, fried wontons are often filled with cream cheese.
In Canadian Chinese cuisine, wonton soup in eateries not catering to Chinese have pork filled wontons with spaghetti like noodle, BBQ pork and vegetables in a clear chicken broth.
Chinese names
In Mandarin Chinese, the name of the food is written as 馄饨 (pinyin: húndun; roughly meaning "irregularly shaped dumpling"). However, the English name derives from the Cantonese wan4tan1.
In Cantonese, traditional Chinese: 雲吞; simplified Chinese: 云吞, (pinyin: yúntūn), is a popular variant written form that literally means "swallowing clouds". Both terms are pronounced [wɐ̀ntʰɐ́n] in Cantonese.
See also
References
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 17 November 2008, at 10:03.
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