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Wonton ( (details)), also written as wantan, wanton and numerous other variations, are a type of dumpling common in Chinese cuisine.
"Wonton" in Chinese
The English name wonton can be written in Chinese either as húndùn (餛飩) - the usual northern Chinese name meaning roughly "irregularly shaped pasta", or the more poetic yúntūn () - a popular Cantonese homonym that literally means "swallowing clouds". Both terms are pronounced as ? in Cantonese.
Curiously, the characters 餛飩; can be used in Japanese for udon, a type of thick wheat noodles with very little resemblance to wonton.
During Chinese New Year, people put silver coins inside wontons for good luck.
Types
Each wonton is made with a thin 10cm square lye-water pastry wrapper (made of wheat flour, water, salt, and lye) and filled with savory minced meat. The filling is typically made of minced pork, coarsely diced shrimp, finely minced ginger, finely minced onions, sesame oil and soy sauce. Wontons can be served in soup or deep fried with rice or noodles. Although commonly referred as "dumplings", wontons should really be classified as a kind of filled pasta more similar to the Italian tortellini or ravioli or Jewish kreplach. The thinness of the wonton wrapper makes the texture of boiled wontons rather similar to small meatballs. A Spanish food similar to the wonton is called Empanada.
Other variation of wonton are shrimp wonton (鮮蝦雲吞) or seafood wonton. Wonton pastry wrappers can also be made for thinly rolled hot water dough (made of flour, boiling water, and salt), though such wrappers are less commonly found.
The deep fried variety are often served as a snack or appetizer, particularly in American Chinese cuisine. While it is often filled with a minced pork mixture, they are occasionally filled with cream cheese as well.
Wonton soup
This much-neglected portion of the complete recipe of the wonton dish is probably the reason for one of the most recognizable aroma in any wonton restaurant. It is a distinct seafood aroma that causes many to salivate in expectation of good wonton. Most recipes that recommend use of chicken stock miss this distinct refinement. The aroma comes from the addition of a small portion of dried octopus (available in Chinese dried goods stores) in the preparation of the soup. Allow to boil for at least half an hour. Add small amount of sugar and soy sauce if you wish.
See also
External links
- photo, chinese wonton
- Japanese woman living in Taiwan makes wonton with neighbors
- Japanese wantan
- Wonton
Noodles | Cantonese cuisine | Hong Kong cuisine | Chinese cuisine | Dumplings
"Wonton"