Shanghai Pork and Vegetable Wontons 菜肉大馄饨

This is one of my family’s staple food. It is perfect for a breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are perhaps a dozen of ways to wrap the filling – but I care for the golden ingot (Lucky Yuan Bao 元宝) fold (like Tortellini.). The Italians perhaps got the fold from the Chinese. Now we are borrowing back their stuffed-noodle fold. Click here for homemade wonton wrappers.

 Yields 50 wontons,

Wrappers (in square shape)

I think you can buy the square wonton wrappers from any Asia markets in the world. In Singapore, they are available at Cold Storage, Fairprice and Giant. Click here for homemade wonton wrappers.

Filling

• 250g           ground pork
• 100g           minced shrimp (if you use shrimp with shell , you will need about 200g and shell needs to be removed before have them minced); OR use equal amount of ground pork if shrimp is not available
• 100g           Bok Choy or spinach (leaves only), minced，上海青菜或者菠菜
• 1 teaspoon       ginger, minced， 姜末
• 1 tablespoon    spring onions, minced，葱末
• 1/2 teaspoon    salt， 盐
• 2 teaspoons      corn flour，生粉
• 1 tablespoon    light soy sauce， 生抽
• 1 teaspoon       caster sugar， 白糖
• 1 teaspoon       sesame oil，香油

Make the sauce (per serving for 6-8 wontons)

• ½ tablespoon        spring onions, minced
• ½ tablespoon        light soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon            sesame oil

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine ground pork (minced shrimp), minced greens and rest of the filling ingredients. Mix well.
2. Now let’s wrap – the Italians may get the tortellini fold from the Chinese. Now we’re borrowing back their stuffed-noodle fold. So just take out one wrapper, add a half tablespoon of fillings. Fold it into half size from the middle, press the two sides of the wrapper together to seal. Dab a little water on the two corners, then fold one side toward the center. Fold the other side to the center. Press the two ends together to seal. The filled center will plump up like a belly with the edges framing it like a golden ingot (lucky Yuan Bao,元宝).
3. Bring a pot of water to boil, add in 6-8 wontons and cook for 5 minutes till they float on the water. In the meantime, prepare a serving bowl, combine a ½ tablespoons of minced spring onion and light soy sauce, a ½ teaspoon of sesame oil with 2-3 tablespoons of boiled water from the pot. Mix well. Drain the wontons and place them in the bowl. Gently toss till the wontons are well-coated.

Tips:

1. You can always make a large quantity of wontons then freeze them in the freezer. In 3-4 hours later, pack them in a sealed plastic bag. No need to defrost them when cooking, just take desired quantity out of the plastic bag then place them straight into the boiling water – the same way you cook fresh wontons. Just allow 1-2 more minutes cooking time.