If ever you are throwing a hors d'oevres party and want a more cultural nibbley-dibbley, or you are having Chinese food and would like an entree, I have relied on the almighty Money Bags to solve the issue for a while! More ommonly known as 'wontons', one of the best things about them is the fact you can do almost anything to the filling and it hardly matters! Of course, having a good, tasty filling is optimal, but the diversity in wonton fillings is incredible! (of course, I wouldn't recommend going with vegemite and sweet chilli sauce with cream cheese, but hey, if *you* like it.....!)
Recently I've developed an interest in dumplings, but they are, I grant you, slightly more difficult to make; they must be kept steamed until just before serving and you can't really lump them together, amid other complications... Wontons though, you can even make a dumpling recipe and then toss then in the oil and make wonton-like yummies. Wontons can thence be kept in the oven on a slightly warm temperature till serving time. Very handy.
Putting together a good filling for the wontons isn't difficult, but I would recommend making it a day in advance, or at least a few hours. This is because it's meant to marinate and as we all know, the longer in marinates, all the difference in world! It usually composes of chicken and prawns, but I occasionally use pork, like in dumplings; personally I like the filling to have that denser, chewier consistency pork gives after biting through the golden crackling shell of the fried wrapper.
You can even make the wontons and setting them on a tray dusted with cornstarch, cover it all with cling wrap and freeze it until needed. Very handy if you're catering, which I did once when taking a 5 hour drive to Massachusetts for New Years a few years back. Fry them and pair it with say, a nice plum sauce, and there you are!
For those of us who like things a little fancier, after frying and cooling the wonton, you can then slice a strip of spring/green onion and tie it around the neck of the 'money bag'. It really adds to the effect, and livens up the colour of the dish, especially when paired with the plum sauce, you then have the gold of the wonton, the dark red of the sauce and the bright green of the onion.
Aye, very bourgeois.
And for those of us who really like to have as much in the recipes made at home as possible, you can even make the wrappers.
Don't be daunted. In the beginning, it may be slightly tricky, but the ingredients are almost nothing, and then it's just a matter of rolling it out in squares when you're ready.
If it's for a big party, I would recommend making up the wrappers' dough and assembling the wontons the day before, refrigerating/freezing them until serving time. (allow for a short while for them to thaw, bien sur!)
CHICKEN AND PRAWN MONEY BAGS
Ingredients
250 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
1 dried black shiitake mushroom, soaked in hot water to soften, finely shredded*
1 spring onion/shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon very finely grated ginger**
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine [S]
1/2 teaspoon very finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar***
1/4 white pepper
200g minced chicken
3 water chestnuts, very finely chopped [S]
40 wonton wrappers
2-3 cups (500-750 ml) vegetable oil for deep-frying
spring onion curls or strips, to garnish
[S]ubstitutes
- Use sherry or mirin instead of Chinese rice wine
- Use 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery if you do not have water chestnuts
* shiitake mushroom - I never have these type mushrooms around (to my grief), but I'm sure it'd make it much nicer than your average mushrooms (avoid the canned ones, of course!)
** ginger - I always add a little extra ginger to my asian recipes, remember that you can just flow with these Money Bags fillings, a little more of this, a little less of that...
*** sugar - I never add this, but you can if you'd like that extra bing
METHOD
Mince the prawns and put them in a medium sized bowl. Add the mushrooms, spring onion, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar and pepper and mix well.
Place the prawn mixture in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and water chestnuts, mixing well.
Leave for at least an hour and up to two days for the mixture to really have a good soak.
Prepare the wrappers (Recipe Below).
Now for the fun!
Place one heaping teaspoon of the mixture in the centre of each wonton wrapper.*
Heat a wok or deep frying pan for 30 seconds, then add the oil. When hot, add the filled wrappers, a few at a times, and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.
Drain on paper towel, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.
* Ensure you don't overfill the wrapper or it won't close.
WRAPPERS RECIPE
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1/3 cup water
1. In a medium bowl, beat egg. Mix in water.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and slowly pour in your egg and water mixture. Mix well. If mixture is too dry, increase the amount of water one teaspoon at a time until a pliable dough has formed. (you will probably use little less than 1/2 cup water)
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until elastic. Cut dough into two separate balls. Cover dough and let sit for a minimum of 10 minutes.
4. Rip ball from dough and roll out into 3 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 squares.
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