Sunday 17 November 2013

Wonton Skins...and the time I had to be stubborn.


Hey guys! So I'm all rested up and ready to type out my wonton wrapper recipe. In my last post, I sleepily typed out a brief post about my dinner of wonton soup.

Now...wontons are easy to cook. You drop them in a pot of boiling water and wait for them to rise to the surface. Done.
But making them... well that's a little more involved. Especially if, like me, you live in a wee town in Scotland with no Asian market nearby. It's not impossible, by NO means is it impossible. Just make sure you do this on a day where you don;t have coursework due anytime soon. So yes, let's get down to brass tacks shall we? I'll share my wrapper recipe with you guys now. The filling can be anything you want it to be. These were stuffed with a mix of mince pork, minced scallops (They were on offer!!!) and veggies. Let me know if you'd like the filling recipe and I'll get a post up on it. :)



My wonton wrapper recipe... is simple, but a work in progress. It comes together very easily but it's very sticky when rolling out. Workable of course, or I would've totally given up making them halfway but I was gritting my teeth.
Any tips?

Wonton wrappers
-1 cup a.p. flour
-1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil

+Dissolve the salt in the warm water.
+Make a well in your flour (which ideally should be in a bowl. I made this on the counter the first time round and it was a mini-almost-disaster. Pour about 3/4 of the water in and start pulling the flour in. Moisten as necessary. The dough should just be easy to work with. The dough should be slightly sticky, just barely sticking to your fingers. If you do end up adding too much water, don't panic, just add a bit more flour.
+Drizzle the oil over and knead in well. Keep working the dough till it's smooth and silky.
+Wrap tightly in cling wrap and rest in fridge for atleast an hour. You can make the dough up to 2 days in advance, although I'd STRONGLY advise using it within 24 hours.

Now this is the tricky bit, rolling the buggers out. I tried rolling out the dough into a big sheet and cutting circles out, but the dough isn't very cooperative that way. So, here's what I do:
+ Flour your countertop LIBERALLY. Let flour fly.
+ Divide the dough into small balls, about a measuring tsp worth each.
+Roll each ball out individually (yes, I know, I'm sorry.)
+FLOUR LIBERALLY.
+Roll out till the circle is 1mm thick (Again, I'm really sorry).

Ok, I tried stacking the sheets as I rolled them out the last time. But these things....Goddamn it they're like a high school couple celebrating their 2 week 'anniversary'. The moment they touch, they're STUCK. So this time I just stuffed each skin as soon as I rolled it out.

THERE HAS TO BE A LESS LABOUR INTENSIVE WAY TO DO THIS.

Ok, this hasn't been the most encouraging post. Please understand that,
1) I was REALLY desperate for wonton soup.
2) The experience was very much a learning curve for me.
3) The end result was very very satisfying. I had a hot bowl of wonton soup while it was freezing cold outside.

Next time (if I figure out how to time my cravings) I'll get the skins from Dundee. For now though, I'll settle down with my hard begotten bowl of pork and scallop wontons.


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