Wontonssssss....

The other night, E and I did a little grocery shopping tour of the GC and bought many many yummy items. One of our stops was the Asian Grocery Store in Mermaid. The store is a little bit ridiculous, but we like it. The aisles are ridiculously narrow, and the shelves are stocked full of interesting, exciting and sometimes scary asian products. I got some "toasted cuttlefish", which I am a fan of despite the scary name (and smell). I made E try some, and she actually liked it! We also got some mung bean noodles, sweet potato noodles, tofu, wonton wrappers, and chocolate panda cookies for a birthday present.

The next stop was Coles to pick up bok choy and pork, then raced home for a wonton making extravanganza. Well, perhaps not extravaganza...it was only mildly exciting.

I have fond memories of making millions of these wonton guys with my g-ma, mom and sister at home, and we also make them a lot when we go up north to our cottage. It's a really fun thing to do with famjams and friends. Due to the time difference between Australia and Canada, I couldn't call my mom for the recipe for the filling, so I made my best guess as to what was inside, and they actually turned out really well!

I bought a package of ground pork....I'm guessing it was about a pound or so....it cost $4? lol, sorry for the lack of measurements- I'm not a measuring kind o' girl.


Northern Style Wontons/Dumplings
Ingredients:
ground pork- a $4 package, if you buy your meat at Coles lol!
1 bunch of bok choy, chopped finely
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
ground pepper

wonton wrappers
water to seal the wontons

Direction:
Mix all filling ingredients together in a large bowl, try not to overmix.
Take a wonton wrapper, place about a scant tablespoon of filling onto the wrapper.
Dip a finger into water and wet the edges of the wrapper.
Fold the wrapper in half, so that it becomes a triangle.
Pinch the edges of the wrapper gently to seal.
Take the bottom corners of the triangle and pull them down and fold them over one another, and seal with a little more water.

If you want to make them dumplings, circle shaped wrappers are best. To seal dumpling wrappers, simply fill, fold in half, and seal, scalloping the edges.

At this point, you can freeze them by spreading them out on a tray and freezing them until firm, then transferring them to a container or ziplock bag.

If cooking as wontons, boil for approximately 5-6 minutes, just until the meat is cooked, and the wontons float.
Wontons can be served with flat rice noodles and broth.

If cooking as dumplings, place a frying pan on high heat with a couple tbs of oil. When hot, place the dumplings in the pan and let them brown on the bottom. After a minute or two, add water to the pan- about an inch, and cover the pan with a lid to let the dumplings steam. Once all of the water has cooked away, the dumplings are done!

Makes about 40 wontons. (I had leftover filling.)

Serve with soy sauce or Chinese red vinegar.