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Fried wontons – Homemade, crispy and delicious wontons with simple everyday ingredients. Learn how to make wontons with this easy Chinese recipe.
Table of Contents
Watch My Video: How to Make and Wrap Wontons
Small Bite with Big Flavor
Wonton is a type of Chinese dumpling. They come in small parcels and are available in many forms: steamed, deep-fried or in wonton soup.
What is inside of a wonton? The inside contains a savory meat or seafood filling and a special yellow color and rectangle wrapper wraps the filling inside a wonton. The yellow color comes from egg yolk as wonton wrappers do contain eggs.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Chicken Wonton
Wonton Soup
Fried Shrimp Wontons
Wontons Vs Dumplings
Many people are wondering what is the difference between a wonton and a dumpling? Simply put, wontons are dumplings. They are under the big umbrella of Chinese dumplings and they are a subset of dumplings.
What Is Fried Wonton?
Fried wontonsare deep-fried to golden brown and popular in the Chinese restaurants here in the United States.
They are an appetizer and come with a pinkish-red Chinese sweet and sour dipping sauce. Everyone loves them because they are so crispy, delicious and the sweet and sour sauce makes them even more appetizing. Once you start eating, you just can’t stop!
My wontons recipe is very easy take less than 30 minutes to make at home. First of all, you make the filling. My recipe calls for a shrimp with ground pork filling. I added some water chestnuts for an extra crunch and texture.
You can also use chicken or turkey as the filling. You may add in some shrimp, scallop or crab if you like.
Next, you need to learn the basic technique of how to wrap Chinese dumplings by watching the video above. To deep-fry, make sure you use a neutral cooking oil such as vegetable oil. After deep-frying, make sure you drain the excess oil with paper towels.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 311 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
This meal is best served as an appetizer. For a wholesome Chinese meal at home, I recommend the following recipes.
In a bowl, mix the ground pork, shrimp, soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper together. Stir to combine well to form a sticky filling.
To wrap the wontons, lay a piece of the wonton wrapper on your palm and add 1/2 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. (Use 1 teaspoon filling if you are a beginner.) Dip your index finger into the sealing water and trace it on the outer edges of the wonton wrapper.
You can wrap the wontons three ways. To make a triangle, just fold it up to form a triangle. Pinch the edges to seal tight. To make them into the pretty shape (far left in the above picture), just pull the two corners of the triangle down so one overlaps the other, pinch and seal with water.
To make them into Hong Kong style wonton (far right in the above picture), please watch my video at the top of this post.
Heat up some oil for deep-frying. Once the oil is fully heated, deep fry the wontons until golden brown. Drain the excess oil with paper towels. Serve hot with Chinese sweet and sour sauce or Thai sweet chili sauce.
Notes
Watch the cooking video on this page for step-by-step guide.
If you want to make wonton wrappers from scratch, please followthis recipe.
You can find mysweet and sour sauce recipe here.
Course: Chinese Recipes
Cuisine: Chinese
Keywords: Fried Wontons
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Fried Wontons Recipe
Amount Per Serving (4 people)
Calories 311Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 122mg41%
Sodium 937mg41%
Carbohydrates 65g22%
Fiber 2g8%
Protein 26g52%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I like to use either peanut oil or vegetable oil for deep frying. Both are neutral flavored and have a high smoke point. They can handle the amount of heat needed to make sure that your wonton strips fry up crispy without absorbing too much oil.
The best way to keep fried foods crispy? Just place them on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. If you're frying multiple batches, throw the whole setup into a low oven to keep everything warm as you keep frying and adding to the rack.
There are many types of wonton fillings, but I'd say that pork and shrimp/prawns are the most common. Then there are all sorts of additions, including mushrooms, water chestnuts, chopped up Asian greens and even carrots.
Wrappers – do not lay/spread them out but keep them in the opened package. Take out a few wrappers at a time (so they don't dry out). Cover the opened package with a damp tea towel.
Chinese cooks normally use soybean oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil, all of which have a high smoke point. Peanut oil usually has a pleasant nutty flavor and is suitable not only for stir-frying but also for deep-frying. Canola oil, which has a high smoke point but a neutral flavor, is also a good choice.
Some cooks, including Fran McCullough, author of The Good Fat Cookbook, swear by deep frying with animal fats like lard (374°F smoke point) and beef tallow (400°F). Fans say this natural, saturated fat imparts great flavor and makes the ingredients crispier.
Begin by putting your filling in the middle of the wrapper and then folding the wrapper over into a half-rectangle, making sure to seal the edges with water.
Place a teaspoon of your filling onto the center of the wrapper. Remember, using more than a teaspoon may cause the wontons to burst when cooked. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. This will help to create a seal when you fold the wonton.
The wonton wrapper is not just folded, but it is sealed with a dab of water to hold the ingredients inside. The edges of the wrapper meet and are pinched together with a bit of water to seal. This is essential to prevent the wrapper from opening and spilling the filling while cooking.
Bring a wok halfway full with water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the wontons in batches until they float to the surface, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Often they burst during cooking because they have too much filling for the amount of dough. Some doughs are too dry, so the dumplings won't stay sealed. Others can be too wet and sticky and end up tearing. If the filling isn't cohesive enough, it will tumble out when you bite into it.
Traditional Chinese wonton wrappers are made from wheat flour, eggs and water, and can be used to wrap around any number of fillings to be cooked in soups or fried. That's obviously a no-go for anyone eating gluten free.
Wontons are usually cooked through when they float, unless there are air pockets within it. To check for doneness, cut one open. (If you like, cook some noodles using the same boiling water to make wonton noodle soup.)
Heat a 10-inch/25cm non-stick pan over medium high heat, and add the neutral oil. Add the wontons in one layer to the pan, and fry for a few minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown and slightly crispy. With the pan still over medium-high heat, use a cover as a shield and add ⅓ cup water.
Bake the wonton cups and prepare the filling as directed, but cover them separately and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days. Assemble and bake the appetizers shortly before serving.
The refined oils that are most often used for deep frying include safflower and soybean oil, the latter of which is often labeled as vegetable oil. Decker says the most stable picks are high in a fat called oleic acid, and recommends using peanut or canola oil.
The type of oil you use is up to you. For a more authentic Chinese recipe, use sesame or peanut oil. You can also use vegetable or olive oil if you prefer.
Benefits: With a high smoke point and neutral flavor, canola oil is excellent for frying chicken. As an added bonus, it has high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which makes it healthier than other options.
Woks are used in a range of Chinese cooking techniques, including stir frying, steaming, pan frying, deep frying, poaching, boiling, braising, searing, stewing, making soup, smoking and roasting nuts.
Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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