Pork and Shrimp Wontons

Shrimp wontons is near the top of my list of comfort foods.  It always has been ever since I was a child.  That might seem a bit strange since I grew up in Trinidad.  I have one very strong memory as a child where my Dad took me to a restaurant called Ling Nam.  I remember having to walk up these long stairs to get into the restaurant.  As you take each step, you can smell the wonderful smell of dishes being served.  In my version of this story, I remember eating an entire large bowl of wontons served in a soup and then begging my Dad to order another as I was sure I could finish it.  Of course, when the second bowl came I could barely eat a few more.  The food must have settled in my stomach while having to wait!  Ever since then, I have a weak spot for wontons.  Here in Toronto, I do not enjoy the wontons you get in restaurants.  They tend to have too much pork or the shrimp are not chopped up and I would even they taste a bit weird to me.  So my only option is to make my own!



My youngest daughter has been my sous-chef this summer as we try different recipes.  Here she is folding the wontons.  Amazing, it only took her one try to start making these perfect looking wontons.



While I like just shrimp in my wontons, the kids prefer it with pork in it.  I am not sure why, but perhaps they are more familiar with pork dumping.  For me one of the key ingredient is the water chestnuts.  I love the crunch, crunch!  Again, the kids differ!  They are always making it more complicated for me.



Well, at least I have one sous-chef helping me!



Pork and Shrimp Wontons
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound shrimps, shelled, deveined, finely chopped
1 pound ground pork
1 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
Fresh ground pepper to taste
2 packs Wonton wrappers
small bowl of water for Wonton wrappers

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, mix all ingredients (except for Wonton wrappers) together.
2) To make the wonton, place a teaspoon of the pork/shrimp mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper.  Fold the wonton in half to form a triangle and lightly press edges together.  With the long edge away from you, moisten the right corner on wonton.  Move the back corners towards each other and place left corner over the right moistened corner and squeeze.  In one motion, flip the joined corner and the front upwards.  Do the same for the rest.
3) To cook the wontons, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the wontons in batches.  The wontons will be ready once they all float to the top.  Be sure to add only enough wontons so that all the wontons can all float to the top.
4) The wontons can be served in a soup, deep-fried, or as is with a dipping sauce.