Fried Wontons

Every Tuesday during this summer, my friends, our daughters, and I get together to learn to sew and to cook. My husband coined the name "Terrific Tuesday". Terrific because his wife is finally learning to sew colonial clothes.

You see, we went on a family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia with a homeschooling group this past spring and completely fell in love with this beautiful historic site . And you could recognize this particular group from a mile away because most of us were strolling through the streets with colonial period clothes and with several children in tow. My entire family was most elegantly garbed, thanks to my master seamstress friend, but I vowed that I would learn how to sew from her this summer.

With much enthusiasm and nudging from my husband, "Terrific Tuesday" was launched six weeks ago. So far I have completed, with lots of help, colonial kerchief, apron, haversack, and a shift. Sorry that you have to suffer through looking at my colonial under garment here, but as a Korean, this is such a wonderful and meaningful skill I am learning.

Oh, yeah, back to Fried Wontons.....after a morning of sewing and lunch, we begin the cooking class, my comfort zone where I don't struggle so much as I do with sewing.

Yummy filling makes the wontons. Here are simple but very tasty ingredients of ground pork, minced shrimp, water chestnut, and green onions. Mix gently with egg, cornstarch, and seasoning.

Only one teaspoon is needed per wonton wrapper (overfilling will cause seams to open during deep frying) . Apply egg wash on the edges and lightly press the edges together, then fry.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. It's hard to east just one, I know. I had two dozens today.


Fried Wontons

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, chopped fine
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 can water chestnuts (8oz), drained and finely chopped
3 sprigs of green onions, finely minced
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg beaten

60-75 wonton skins
4 c vegetable oil

Egg Wash:
1 egg white
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Mix egg white and 1 teaspoon of corn starch in a small bowl until well combined. Set aside.

Combined first 10 ingredients in bowl and mix well.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of shrimp-meat mixture in center of wonton skin. Brush edges of skin with egg wash, using tip of your finger. Fold skin over to form triangle and press edges to seal.

Heat oil in a heavy duty cast iron pot or deep fryer to 375 degrees F. Fry wontons 6-7 at a time until golden brown, about 2 minutes, turning once.

Drain on wire rack. Can be made 1 hour ahead. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

NOTE: For reheating, pre-heat oven 300 degrees F and bake for 4-5 minutes until warmed.