Wontons are pretty great. Originating from China, these little pocket-sized wrapped meats are a culinary delight that brings me a comfort I imagine people find in soul food. I mean really there’s no one strict appearance for wontons, they can come in any shape, size, and have any meat-based filling. The ones I grew up eating are pork-filled, while you might find shrimp filling in other regions of China. There are also various ways to enjoy wontons. Cold day outside? Wonton soup. Craving something crunchy? Fried wontons. Want something between the two? Pan-fried wontons. Each cooking method has its unique texture that synergizes with the flavor of the wontons. I first had wontons in the form of soup. There will be people up as early as sunrise going around street by street selling their homemade rice buns and wonton soup. They would have a bell to ring instead of yelling to grab people’s attention. My mom would always buy a few buns and a few bags of wontons. We’d then pour them into bowls, add a little rice vinegar, and enjoy the sweet and sour broth. If you’re gonna have wonton soup, you NEED to add rice vinegar to the soup. Rice vinegar and wonton soup go hand in hand like cold water on a hot sunny day.
Now you might be asking: “Where can I get these culinary wonders?” To that, I say amazing question. You can find wontons in the frozen foods section in any Asian supermarket. They’re fully good to go when you buy the premade ones, but a huge part of wonton culture is to make them as well. Get yourself some rice wrappings, and buy yourself some ground pork, shrimp, or whatever filling you prefer eating. Now it’s time to get to work, pour in those fillings into a bowl, add your favorite seasonings (mine is sesame oil), scoop a little spoon full of filling, and lay it in the center of a rice wrap. Then dip your fingers in some water and apply it on the perimeters of the rice wraps as if you are enclosing an envelope. Finally, you fully close the rice wrap by matching the edges together and squeeeeze, sending that envelope straight to flavor town. All you have to do now is to find some company, and repeat those steps until you have a few dozen, or use up all your filling. Finally, prepare those wontons to your liking, and enjoy the wonder meal of wontons with a friend, family, or just yourself because I know that you’ll want seconds.
As someone who also eats wontons, I never appreciated the process of making it. From reading your blog, I notice that it is very tedious and time consuming from how you describe the process. I like how you included the origin and how it plays a role in your life and others as well.
Wonton is a classic snack that I would eat for breakfast or whenever I felt hungry. I would go to a chinese takeout place nearby my house and order 5 wontons at a time. I would eat them like if they were popcorns. I like how you explain the process of making Wonton and why it is so scpecial to you.
As someone who has never ate a Wonton, you described this very well and made me imagine eating one throughout the article.
When I was younger my mom would always make wonton soup when it was cold out, reading your writing took me back to the days my mom made them. Wonton is like my recommended food because there are many different types of ways you can cook wonton meaning either fried or steamed creating a sauce that elevates the flavor. A well-written piece about WONTONS!