Crispy Fried Wanton

 脆皮炸云吞

Made this cantonese bite-sized dumplings using late mother-in-law's recipe. They can be deep fried or boiled in soups. We like fried ones - so crispy and finger licking good.

Ingredients

300g minced pork (I asked the butcher for 'bu jian tian' 不见天, a cut of meat around the pig's armpit. The meat is tender and has good proportion of fat.)

300g fresh prawns (including shells)

60-70 pieces of square wanton wrappers from wet market (100g, 25 wrappers)

3 fresh shiitake mushrooms (cut into thin strips)

2 shallots (minced/grated)

2 garlic cloves (minced/grated)

2-3 stalks of spring onions (finely chopped)

3 water chestnuts (cut into small cubes)

Half an egg (small egg about 50g, lightly beaten)

Seasoning - 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce and dashes of white pepper

1 spoonful of love

Method

1. De-shell and de-vein the prawns. Then smack them with the back of a cleaver to mash the prawn meat. This is so that the prawn meat will be crunchy.

2. Mix minced pork, spring onions, garlic, onion and seasoning using a pair of chopsticks (or your hand) in one circular direction until you get a sticky paste - about 5 minutes.

3. Add water chestnuts, prawns, egg and two tablespoon of water, and continue to mix (same circular motion) until well combined for another 5 minutes.

4. Add the half egg and a few drops of sesame oil, and continue to mix (same circular motion) for final 5 minutes. 

5. Take a piece of wanton wrapper, place the filling (about 1 heap teaspoonful) on the wrapper and gather the corners/edges of the wrapper to enclose the filling. Repeat until the fillings/wrapper are used up.

6. Heat up cooking oil in your wok/frying pan, and deep fry the wantons (in batches) until light golden brown. Remember to turn the wantons around so that all sides are evenly fried. Transfer to wire rack to drain excess oil. Serve whilst hot and crispy.