Chinese (Lunar) New Year is just around the corner, and this time we celebrate with a small snack that is loved all over the world. I defy anyone not to enjoy a crispy, crunchy, golden fried wonton!
Fried wontons have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Not only because I like to eat them, but also because my job has always been to help make wontons at our parents’ market stall. Wonton wrappers usually come in blocks and sometimes the individual sheets can stick together. That’s where my little, 4-year-old nimble fingers came in handy. I had a knack for peeling away the wraps neatly, resulting in fewer torn wraps and less wasted. It always made me feel proud to see our customers enjoying a brown paper bag filled with wontons.
The recipe we’re sharing today pays tribute to those great market wontons, with a filling that makes the humble cabbage a star. Cabbage is a truly underrated vegetable, but you’ll see it crop up in plenty of traditional dumpling recipes, as well as recipe menus. There are a number of reasons for this. First, cabbage has a wonderful delicate sweetness that pairs really well with that other favorite Canto ingredient, pork. Second, the shredded cabbage is just on the right side of juiciness—not so juicy that the filling soaks and the wonton is hard to wrap, but juicy enough to keep the filling nice and moist. Have you ever bitten into a dumpling only to be greeted by that wonderful, almost broth-like trickle? That is the work of a vegetable like cabbage,
If the image of cabbage juice mixed with pork hasn’t convinced you to try these wontons yet (if not, why not?) I’ll just leave these words here: sweet and sour sauce.
Fried wontons are sure to be a treat, and there’s no better time to treat yourself than Chinese New Year! Keep going, we know you want to!
