Home made dumplings and wanton skin
I always wondered how fresh wanton taste from the usual prepared wanton skin that you would get from the grocery store.
Decided to try my hand last evening at making my own wanton skin. It was different from the usual wanton, as it was fresh and more chewy, as you would expect with more gluten in the flour, especially since it is prepared fresh.
The challenge was to roll them out real thin, so that the fillings would cook nicely. Half of the dumplings were steamed and half were deep fried.
Recipe for fillings:Prepare the meat fillings 1st. It gives it time to marinate when you prepare the wanton skin. (you can substitute with other meats)
- 500g minced meat (prawns, chicken, beef, or pork)
- 2 bundles of Chinese chives finely chopped (replace with scallion if you can’t get them)
- 2 tsp of sherry or rice win
- 1/4 cup of woodear mushroom diced (dried Chinese mushrooms, shitake or any other to replace)
- 1 tsp of sesame oil
- pinch of salt and white pepper to taste
Seasoned mince meat with all ingredients. Set aside when preparing the wanton skin.
Recipe for wanton skin: To make just enough for 500grams of mince meat fillings.
- 1 Egg
- 1 and 1/2 cups of plain flour
- 1 tbsp of water
- 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- pinch of salt
Beat the egg first, add salt, 1 cup of flour and water to mix it well. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour gradually, until it is well mixed, nice and firm, but not too tough. The dough should be medium firm. Let it rest for 5 mins, then knead again.
This time roll the pinch out ball sized dough, roll out on a floured surface and rolling pin. As moisture in the air tends to make the wanton skin sticky, keep them nicely dusted with flour after rolling them
