These delectable golden nuggets of the West aka Fried Wontons need no further introduction. I’m pretty certain every Chinese household would have made these before.
This recipe is dedicated especially to my beloved sis, who has been “bugging” me for a wonton recipe for a while. Using our mom’s original recipe, I‘ve taken the liberty to add in an ingredient which is commonly used by some wonton stalls’ owners – sole fish powder.
Sole fish powder.
In case you are wondering, I got mine from Tung San retail outlet in Ang Mo Kio. The addition of the sole fish powder lends an extra umami-ness to the wontons. You could most definitely grind your own sole fish powder too! However, I do come across some people who absolutely hated the taste of sole fish so, to each his own. 
There are two versions of how you could enjoy these wontons – fried or boiled. Today, I’m going with the fried version.
Ingredients:
200 g minced pork
100 g (5 – 6 pieces) glass prawns
3 – 4 (about 30 g) water chestnuts – peeled and chopped (I’m using canned version)
1 packet (200 g) wonton skin
Cooking oil for frying
Seasoning:
1 tsp rice wine
1 tsp minced ginger
3 tsp sole fish powder (optional) – if not using, replace with 1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Few dashes of white pepper
1 beaten egg – use only half and reserve the rest to seal the edges
2 tsp corn starch
The line up.
Peel and de-vein the prawns.
Remove the vein on the back of the prawn.
Chop them into small pieces. Do not mince them too finely or they will lose the crunchy texture.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and seasoning.
Give it a good mix and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
*To make sure the meat is well seasoned, I highly recommend cooking a tsp of the meat in a pan to taste it. Adjust with more seasoning if necessary before putting them whole batch in the fridge.
To wrap the wontons:
Remove the wonton skins from the wrapper and cover with a cloth to prevent the rest from drying out.
I got this packet of wonton wrappers from the supermarket.
Place a tsp of the meat mixture in the centre of the skin and dap the edges with the reserved egg wash.
Seal the edges carefully into a triangle.
You could leave it as it is but if you wish to make them into ingot shapes, bring the two longer edges together and seal them with some egg wash.
Repeat with the rest.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat, covering about ¼ from the base.
When a wooden chopstick inserted is bubbling, the oil is ready.
When the temperature reaches 180°C/350°F, place a few wontons and fry for 2 – 3 mins, until golden brown.
If the skin is browning too fast, turn down the heat slightly. The cooked wontons should be floating on top of the oil.
Drain on paper towel and serve warm with ketchup or mayonnaise.
- 200 g minced pork
- 100 g (5 – 6 pieces) glass prawns
- 3 – 4 (about 30 g) water chestnuts – peeled and chopped (I’m using canned version)
- 1 packet (200 g) wonton skin
- Cooking oil for frying
- Seasoning:
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 3 tsp sole fish powder (optional) – if not using, replace with 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Few dashes of white pepper
- 1 beaten egg – use only half and reserve the rest to seal the edges
- 2 tsp corn starch
- Peel and devein the prawns.
- Chop them into small pieces. Do not mince them too finely or they will lose the crunchy texture.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and seasoning.
- Give it a good mix and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
- *To make sure the meat is well seasoned, I highly recommend cooking a tsp of the meat in a pan to taste it. Adjust with more seasoning if necessary before putting them whole batch in the fridge.
- To wrap the wontons:
- Remove the wonton skins from the wrapper and cover with a cloth to prevent the rest from drying out.
- Place a tsp of the meat mixture in the centre of the skin and dap the edges with the reserved egg wash.
- Seal the edges carefully into a triangle. You could leave it as it is but if you wish to make them into ingot shapes, bring the two longer edges together and seal them with some egg wash.
- Repeat with the rest.
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat, covering about ¼ from the base.
- When the temperature reaches 180°C/350°F, place a few wontons and fry for 2 – 3 mins, until golden brown. If the skin is browning too fast, turn down the heat slightly. The cooked wontons should be floating on top of the oil.
- Drain on paper towel and serve warm with ketchup or mayonnaise.
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