A Couple of Cooks Creation: Johnny's Wontons

Tonight we made one of our classic dishes. Johnny's Wontons! I promised a while back that I would describe how we make them in an earlier post http://coupleofcooks.blogspot.com/2007/05/clean-house.html.

These are the best because, though they take a while to assemble, we always have leftovers in the freezer and get to enjoy them at a later date. Of course, we each had our share of the little treats tonight.

Usually Johnnycakes takes the lead on assembling the wontons but we were pressed for time tonight, so I helped.

Johnny's Pork Wontons

Pork Filling:

1 lb. ground pork

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. Soy Sauce

2 scallions, chopped

1 carrot, shredded julienne style

Mix all together and stuff each wonton wrapper with about 1 tbsp. of meat mixture.

The assembly line involved several steps:

1. First, you take a wonton wrapper and wet the edges on just two adjacent sides of the wrapper.

2. Then you stuff each wrapper with about 1 tbsp. of meat
3. Then you fold the wrapper diagonally, making sure that no meat pops out the sides.
4. Seal the wrapper by crimping it with a fork.

5. Fold the two sides inward so that they touch each other at the center of the wonton. (No Photo!)

You can either pan-fry the wontons in sesame oil or steam them. I prefer them steamed because they end up with a softer texture. They steam for about 15 minutes covered but you probably want to test them for doneness with a meat thermometer. I'm kind of crazy about that "doneness" kind of stuff.

We serve the wontons with a dumpling sauce. We usually use a store-bought variety but we decided to try and make our own. It turned out quite well.

Homemade Dumpling Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup of Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. garlic juice (from jar of minced garlic)

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. sesame oil

I know it seems like a lot but you always end up with extras in the freezer. Johnnycakes are always so glad that we took the extra time to make them. The tasty reward is always worth the effort!