A dumpling by any other name...

I’m usually the first to admit that things are just better deep-fried.  Is it a healthy option?  Uuuuuhhh… no.  But it IS a damned tasty one.

Meat.  Wrapped in pastry.  Deep-fried.  Served with sauce.  Of course I’m referring to the gem of the Asian dim-sum repertoire: won-tons.

I can usually ply myself with a plate of these suckers until I collapse with repletion, a trail of sweet and sour sauce oozing down my shirt, with little more than the sound of my arteries hardening as a soundtrack.

I chose to run in a slightly more responsible direction with it this time, though.  Oh, they’re still deep-fried, alright!  But rather than the “weight” of meat as the filling, I embraced a lighter, nutritious, and (dare I say?) ethical option.

I used Yves Veggie Ground Round but you could just bulk up on the mushroom content, or even break up some firm tofu into bitty chunks (up the soy sauce and other seasonings as desired if using tofu).  Ooooor, yeah, you could use ground beef, or pork, or a mix of the two.  However, I’ve gone through the trouble of titling these VEGETARIAN, so I think it would behoove us all to stick with the veggie options, non?  Oui.

Vegetarian Won-tons

1 package wonton wrappers

340g package Yves Veggie Ground Round (or equivalent in tofu)

6-8 shitake mushrooms (finely chopped)

2 green onions (finely chopped)

1 medium carrot (finely grated)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 inch cube ginger (finely grated)

A pinch Chinese 5 spice powder (optional)

About 1 tsp ground black pepper

1 egg (optional)

1-2 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 egg (optional) see below*

Oil for frying 

 

Combine the Ground Round with your chopped and minced veggies, tossing in the black pepper as well as the 5 spice powder if you’re using it. 

Sprinkle soy sauce to taste over the veggies and mix well.

If using egg, crack it in and mix thoroughly.

Refrigerate mix for at least an hour, but it may be made up several hours in advance.

Now comes the fun part (keep in mind “fun” sometimes means “tedious”).  Have a small bowl of water on hand, as well as a baking sheet or large plate lightly dusted with flour.

Working one wonton wrapper at a time, place about 1Tbsp filling onto the center of the wrapper.  Moisten two edges towards one corner (as eloquently displayed by the cutting-edge graphics in the diagram below) of the wrapper, and fold the far corner over the filling, and press along the moistened edge.  

Next, moisten the three points and fold slightly over themselves.  Place folded wonton on floured baking sheet or plate, and repeat a squillion times, or at least until you run out of wrappers and/or filling.

Heat oil in deep-sided pot until bubbles rise easily around a chopstick pressed to the bottom (350-375°).  Drop the won-tons in a few at a time, so as not to crowd the oil.  Fry until golden (a minute or two), flipping and bronzing the other side, as well.

Remove to a bowl lined with absorbent towel, and place in a warm oven while you fry up the rest.

Serve with a dipping sauce of your own choosing.  Sweet and sour, Thai sweet chili, etc.  Surprisingly, French dressing is kinda kick-ass as a dip, too!  In this instance I had shitake-miso gravy, as well as the sauce from the bok choy and oyster sauce I served it with.

Technically, you aren’t obligated to fry these.  I just had a craving for crispiness, and you, dear reader, got caught in the crossfire.  You could pan-fry them, gyoza-style.  Drop them into boiling broth with some green onion slivers for a won-ton soup.  Maybe you just felt like making them, but don’t feel like eating them: freeze uncooked won-ton on floured baking sheet.  When solid, drop into a freezer bag or other airtight container, and save for when the craving does arise.  …and it will…  oooohhhh, but it will…

*Egg can be used for several reasons, and in several different ways here.  It can be a great binding agent for the other ingredients, making the mix easier to work with, as well as holding the filling together while cooking.  In the past I’ve also pre-cooked the egg (as a thin omelette), chopped into shreds and added to the mix.  It has more of a presence this way, but of course, does nothing to hold it together.

I didn’t actually use any egg in this particular recipe, as I was aiming to make a vegan version.  I thought I was successful until I read the ingredients on the wonton wrappers.  Yup.  Egg.