The classic Chinese dumpling we’re all familiar with. They offer a light burst of flavour in your mouth, just as the name suggests (literally meaning cloud swallow). I can’t quite get the same taste as the ones you get in Hong Kong, but these are pretty darn close.
Ingredients - Wontons
- pack of thin wonton skins
- 250g pork mince
- 6-8 prawns
- a few Chinese mushrooms
- small tin of bamboo shoots
- couple of spring onions
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp cornflour
- ½ tsp salt
- dash of white pepper
Ingredients - Soup
- dried fish powder / flakes
- chicken stock
Firstly, work the pork mince by chopping it for about a minute. This rough chopping works the gluten/protein in the meat and you will notice it becomes stickier.
Peel and de-vein the prawns, then chop up along with the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and spring onion. My family likes the ingredients on the chunkier side (except for the spring onion, which should be finely chopped). This way you can feel the different textures and get that burst of sweetness when you chomp down on a lump of prawn. However, I know Cat prefers to mince everything up well.
Mix all the ingredients (except wonton skins) in a bowl and combine well. If your mixture is not combining and holding together, it is probably because your pork lacks gluten/protein - this can happen if the pork mince is overly lean or has been frozen. You can solve this by introducing extra protein with a little bit of raw egg.
Wrap your wontons by placing a lump of the mixture into the centre of the wonton skin. Then fold in half so one set of corners diagonally across from each other meet. Seal around the lump of filling, trying to get as much air out as possible (leaving too much air inside can burst your wontons during cooking). Finally, gather up the other two corners so they all meet in the centre, crimping and pinching firmly to seal.
Now to make a soup to go with the wontons. In Hong Kong, the soup served with wontons is nearly always made from a dried fish powder. Boil a few cups of water and add in a couple teaspoons of dried fish powder. Add in a cup of chicken stock to the boiling fish stock. This will round out and mellow the flavour of the soup; otherwise you may find it can be a little fishy.
The powder in the photo above is mum’s homemade stuff, which she grinds herself. It is made from the dried flesh of a fish similar to flounder. Alternatively, use dried bonito flakes, which are available at supermarkets these days (most likely along with the other Japanese goods).
Now in a separate pot (separate from the soup), boil water and cook the wontons for roughly 5 mins. Alternatively, cook until the wontons float to the top and then boil for another minute (the wontons sink initially but float as they are nearly done).
Serve the cooked wontons with the soup.
Here I’m having it with noodles, char siew pork and snow pea sprouts.
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Comments (4)
looks really good! Will you be posting up homemade char siu too?
Can you also do home made curry puffs please??!
Yes, a recipe on home-made char siew pork is on the to-do list.
Curry puffs are not a recipe I know off the top of my head. Cat may have a better idea or I'll need to ask my older, wiser consultants :D
I'm sure they'll make an appearance at one point or another though. Most likely when we get a craving for them.