Wonton Dumplings

I still remember my first attempt at trying to make Chinese food as a teenager in my mom's pristine Italian kitchen, and the horror on her face at the maelstrøm that ensued.  Thank goodness for her patience, and for not banishing me from her kitchen forever.  Although I waited years before re-entering the forays of Chinese cuisine at home, I continued to enjoy one of my favorite soups in restaurants.  As it turned out, it also became one of my mom's preferred soups. With time and experience on my side, I  came to master the production of  hundreds of these little dumplings on my own kitchen table, much as my mom did with her ravioli. As a working mother, with school age children at the time, I always had a batch in the freezer and containers of  chicken broth ready to make a quick soup during our cold Canadian winters.  I would simply re-heat the dumplings in boiling water for five minutes and then add them to hot chicken broth where they would finish cooking. A delicious garnish of fried garlic slices and chopped green onions completes the dish.  

Pork Filling:

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork

1 egg

1/2 cup water chestnuts (drained)

4 green onions

1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce (Kikkoman)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a food processor finely chop the water chestnuts, shallots and ginger.  Add the ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil to blend.  Add the pork and egg. Pulse to incorporate the ingredients. Makes about 86 dumplings  (Any left-over meat is delicious grilled in a pan and served with a little salad on the side)

Won Ton wraps come in 14 ounce packages and can be found fresh in Asian grocery stores or frozen in all major grocery stores

Place a teaspoon of the pork mixture on the center of each dough sheet

 and brush some water along all the edges.

Take one corner of the dough and fold into a triangle

With your finger pat gently to remove any air pockets, and press the edges to seal the dough

Taking the two tips of the longer part of the dough triangle, turn the tips backwards to meet. Lightly wet the tip with water and pinch together

Place the finished wonton dumplings on a parchment lined pizza tray or cookie sheet and freeze.  When frozen, transfer to a plastic container, layering the dumplings between parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
The wontons should be cooked in boiling water for 5 minutes, drained, and then added to boiling chicken broth.  Continue to cook the dumplings for an additional 5-7 minutes and  garnish with green onion and fried garlic slices.