Archive / Sauces

Wonton Feast

Wontons are an inexpensive and versatile food item that can be the basis for a wide variety of dishes. They are so versatile, in fact, that this last weekend I planned a whole meal around dishes made with wonton wrappers. Wonton wrappers can be used as the foundation for a wide variety of appetizers, soups, side and main dishes, and even desserts.

The name wonton means literally ‘swallowing a cloud.’ Wontons have a long and rich history {predating the Tang Dynasty (circa 618 – 907 CE)} originating in Northern China as a sealed stuffed bun called ‘Huidun,’ or chaos. It is even said that a doctor, Zhang Zhongjing (circa 150 – 219 CE), filled wontons with medicinal herbs as a cure for frostbite. During the Tang Dynasty, a distinction began to be made between the wonton wrapper, which was typically a triangle with 2 – 3 inch sides, and the dumpling, made from a round piece of dough about 3 inches in diameter.

Although making wontons from scratch may appear to be a simple operation it can be very difficult and challenging. For this reason, and the time involved, many cooks prefer to purchase readymade wrappers. Of course, always intrigued with a kitchen challenge, I decided to make the wrappers (six batches in all) for this feast myself.

As mentioned before, there came to be a distinction between wontons (typically fried) and dumplings (typically boiled or steamed). Because of this potstickers, or Chinese Dumplings, deserve a special mention since they are prepared with a combination of the two cooking methods. Legend is that potstickers were created by a royal chef who pan fried wontons for his master’s meal, but overcooked them turning the bottoms black. Not having enough time to make another batch, he added broth to the pan and steamed the filled wontons, turned them over with their blackened side up, and presented them as a new creation. Fortunately, for the chef and his neck, they were a big hit!

Some of these recipes call for using fresh ginger. Ginger is usually available in the produce section of your local grocer. When buying fresh ginger, choose a piece about the size you need which is firm, smooth, and free of mold. It should also have a paper thin skin which easily rubs off with your fingernail. After peeling away the skin you should smell a strong fresh ginger scent.

The menu I came up with for this feast is as follows:

STARTER
Fried Wonton
Crab Rangoon

SOUP
Wonton Soup

SIDE DISH
Potstickers

MAIN
Three Delicacies Wonton (San Xian Hun Tun)

DESSERT
Banana and Chocolate Wontons

SAUCES
Sweet and Sour
Chinese Brown Gravy
Chinese Mustard

The first thing to be made was the wonton wrapper dough.

WONTON WRAPPERS

Ingredients
1 egg
3/4 t Salt, Kosher
2 c Flour
1/2 c Water

Instructions
Lightly beat the egg, salt, and water. Mix together with flour in a bowl. Adjust water or flour to make a dough. Knead until smooth, about five minutes. Cover and let rest for thirty minutes. Turn dough out onto floured surface and roll out very thin into a rectangle which is about 21 x 14 inches. Cut into 3 ½ inch squares (makes 24 wrappers). Next add the filling, about one teaspoon per wrapper, and seal by folding the square into a triangle. Then take the small ends and pull them together forming a purse shape. It is very important to carefully seal the wrapper. You may need to wet the edges of the wrappers to help the dough adhere to itself.

Here are the filling recipes I used:

FRIED WONTON

Ingredients
1 leaf Bok choy
1 Green onion
½ t Fresh ginger, grated
½ lb. Pork, ground
1 T Soy sauce
1 t Sesame oil
1 t Sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

Oil for frying. I like to use Peanut Oil for Asian dishes, but you can use whichever oil you prefer.

Instructions
Chop the bok choy and green onion. Mince the ginger until you have 1/2 teaspoon.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees adding the wontons one at a time and cook until evenly browned, being careful not to crowd too many in the pan. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve warm while they are still hot and crispy with Sweet and Sour Sauce and Chinese Hot Mustard.

CRAB RANGOON

Ingredients
6 oz. Crab meat, canned or fresh
6 oz. Cream cheese
1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 Green onion, chopped
¼ Red onion, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
½ t Soy sauce
½ t Worcestershire sauce
Black pepper, to taste

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal.

WONTON SOUP

Ingredients
½ lb. Pork, ground
1 Green onion, finely minced
1 t Cornstarch
½ t Sugar
Black pepper, to taste
1 t Sherry
1 T Soy sauce
1 T Oyster sauce
Dash sesame oil

6 c Chicken broth
1 Green onion, chopped

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the wontons, cooking until they float. Add green onion and serve.

POTSTICKERS

Ingredients
1 lb. Pork, ground
1 c Napa cabbage, chopped
2 Green onions, chopped
1 T Sherry
1 t Sesame oil
1t Salt, Kosher
1 t Cornstarch
Black pepper, to taste

½ c Chicken broth

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal.

Add 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and heat to 375 degrees. Fry for two minutes, or until the dumpling bottoms are golden brown.

Add ½ cup chicken broth to skillet, cover and steam for six to seven minutes, or until the broth is absorbed.

Serve with Chinese Brown Gravy.

THREE DELICACIES WONTON (San Xian Hun Tun)

Ingredients
2 Filets, tilapia, cut in chunks
16 Shrimp, medium raw, cut in thirds
1 lb. Pork, ground

1 c Napa cabbage, chopped
½ Red onion, chopped
2 Green onions, chopped
1 T Fresh ginger, grated
1 Carrot, large shredded
1 T Sherry
2 T Oyster sauce
1 T Sesame oil
1t Salt, Kosher
2 T Cornstarch
Black pepper, to taste

½ c Chicken broth

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal. Since this is the main dish, make the wonton wrappers much larger and use an equivalent amount of filling in each. These can also be steamed or fried rather than prepareed like potstickers.

Add 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and heat to 375 degrees. Fry for two minutes, or until the dumpling bottoms are golden brown.

Add ½ cup chicken broth to skillet, cover and steam for six to seven minutes, or until the broth is absorbed.

Serve with Chinese Brown Gravy.

CHOCOLATE BANANA WONTONS

Ingredients
2 Bananas, ripe diced
½ c Chocolate chips

Powdered sugar

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Fill wonton wrappers with this mixture and seal.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees adding the wontons one at a time and cook until evenly browned, being careful not to crowd too many in the pan. Remove and drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm while they are still hot and crispy.

BAKED
Preheat oven to 350. Place filled wontons on cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm while they are still hot and crispy.

Here are the recipes for the sauces:

The Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe can be found in a previous blog.

CHINESE HOT MUSTARD

Ingredients
½ c Mustard, dry
½ c Water, cold
¼ t Oil, cooking

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, cover and let stand for one hour before serving.

CHINESE BROWN GRAVY

Ingredients
1 ½ c Chicken broth
1 t Molasses
1 t Soy sauce
1 T Oyster sauce
2 T Cornstarch
2 T Cold water

Instructions
Combine cornstarch with cold water, add to remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until smooth and thickened.

I hope this article will encourage you to make dishes using wonton wrappers.

Whether you use these recipes, or others, I believe you will really enjoy preparing and serving dishes made with wontons to your family and friends.

Five Mother Sauces

Many years ago, mostly as a result of the French Revolution and the subsequent reduction of the great houses of France and their kitchens with essentially unlimited resources and help, professional cooks began the process of simplifying their work. One of the major contributions of this period, documented by Antonin Carême, and later expanded upon by Auguste Escoffier, was the development of the categories of master sauces. These master sauces were intended to be the basis of all other sauces, needing only the addition of a few ingredients to customize them to a particular dish.

Sauces provide flavor in liquid form and with a pleasing consistency. They are used to enhance the flavors of the dish. Through sauces the cook has a broad range of flavors at hand. Although sauces can be made of fruit, soy, grains, fish, and also include gravies, the earliest European sauces focused primarily on meat reductions. Sauces that were thickened with flour were much more economical than those thickened with meat reductions so became much more popular during that time period.

Previously, we at Lukewarm Legumes started our Saucier series of blogs. This will serve as an introduction to that series by providing part of the history of sauces.

The earliest categories of sauces in Europe were these four:

Espagnole (brown sauce): made with brown meat stock (beef or veal), brown roux, and tomatoes.
Velouté (velvety): made with white stock (fish or chicken) and yellow roux.
Béchamel: made with milk and white roux
Hollandaise: made with butter, eggs, and lemon juice

Later Tomato Sauce would be included in the list.

Today we will focus on Hollandaise Sauce.

Everybody knows that oil and water do not mix; except, when blended in the presence of an emulsifier. The yolk of the egg is itself an emulsion of oil and water with the capability of emulsifying a vast amount of additional liquid. In speaking of another emulsion sauce, mayonnaise, Harold McGee says, “Though cookbooks often say that the ratio of oil to egg yolk is critical, that one egg yolk can only emulsify a half-cup of oil, this just isn’t true. A single yolk can emulsify a dozen cups of oil or more…” (On Food and Cooking, p.634).

Hollandaise Sauce is perhaps one of the most feared sauces to make because of the possibility of curdling the eggs. The important thing to remember is to first blend the egg yolks with the lemon juice. Adding the lemon juice and its acidity helps prevent curdling of the eggs. Using a double boiler will provide a gentle and even heat. The trick is to fully incorporate small slices or butter fully into the egg yolks before adding more and to heat the egg yolks enough to produce the desired thickness, but not so much as to cause the yolk proteins to curdle into solid form.

Here is a basic Hollandaise Sauce recipe:

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1 t Lemon juice
2 t Water

8 T Butter (one stick), cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions
In the top part of a double boiler over medium heat, whisk egg yolks, lemon juice and water until warm enough to melt the butter.

Add butter slices one at a time, whisking until fully incorporated.

After all butter has been added, whisk in salt and cayenne pepper.

Now that you know how quick and easy it is to make this delicious sauce, why not serve it warm over a fried (or poached) egg and ham on an lightly toasted English Muffin for breakfast tomorrow?

Teriyaki Sauce

As a next installment in our Saucier Series (and because I was hungry for Chinese Food tonight) this post will tell you how to make your own homemade Teriyaki Sauce. You may notice a similarity in the preparation of this sauce with my Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe. Like so many other things in this world, much of what is created is built upon previous, or existing knowledge. I actually developed the Teriyaki Sauce recipe first and when I decided to create my own Sweet and Sour sauce recipe, I used this recipe as its basis.

This sauce is simple and easy to make, uses ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, is delicious and authentic. As a matter of fact, you can make this sauce in the same amount of time it will take you to cook the rice.

Here is the recipe:

Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 c Soy Sauce
1 c Water
1 t Ginger, ground
1/2 t Garlic powder
2/3 c Brown Sugar, packed
2 T Honey

1/4 c Water
2 T Corn Starch

Instructions
Mix all but cornstarch and the 1/4c water in a sauce pan, heat and stir until well blended. Add cornstarch to remaining cold water and stir to dissolve. Combine dissolved cornstarch with sauce in the pan. Heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens to the desired consistency. Add water to thin if necessary.

Serve with rice and your favorite: chicken, fish, pork, beef, or even veggies.

This is a sauce you can prepare ahead of time. Store it in your refrigerator and it can be quickly heated as needed.

I served this sauce over chicken pieces sprinkled with Sesame Seeds and garnished with green bell pepper slices and matchstick carrots.

Enjoy!

Wing Sauce, a New Take on an Old Classic

John started a series on Sauces last week with his Sweet and Sour Sauce post and not only did that post prove to be very helpful to me, it also got my wheels spinning. Sauces often make the difference between a great meal and a bland meal, they can bring bold new flavors and textures to the plate leading to a very exciting element to a meal. I am TERRIBLE at following recipes and seldom measure anything when cooking, I tend to follow my senses, taste, touch, smell, sight and even hearing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, taste your food while you’re cooking, your seasoning will get better and you’ll develop instinctual habits and techniques that you will carry for the rest of your life. I’ll write a post about some of my tips for making a sauce on the fly in the very near future. This post is about one of those sauces that came to be almost by accident, while I didn’t measure anything I am quite certain I could replicate this sauce without much difficulty because like most of cooking it really boils down to personal taste, style and balance.

As I mentioned in the Shopping For a New Gas Grill post I wrote last month I love wings, they are such a great food that often get’s over looked as pub fare, takeout or just a boring appetizer. I will admit I am a big fan of the traditional buffalo sauce (Franks Red Hot mixed with melted butter to taste) but sometimes you want something that is a little off the beaten trail. I was invited to a party for a friends new grill, the maiden voyage if you will, and had very little time to prepare. I quickly drove to the store and saw bone in wings on sale so I grabbed them quickly and new I could create a great wing sauce to go with them.

I started with a base of Raspberry Jam that I had and was approaching it’s expiration date, I thought that would bring a nice sweet element to the sauce and add a little acid. I then added some Sriracha sauce to the jam and whisked it together. This is a great example of how you must taste while cooking, if you’ve never used Sriracha sauce and you enjoy spicy hot food you must try it, it is a very consistent and flavorful Chili Pepper Sauce, that said a little Sriracha can go a long way, so I had to add it slowly until I had the perfect blend (for my tastes) of sweetness and heat. Once I had reached this balance I added a little soy sauce for a salty element, again tasting until I reached the level I was looking for. I’m addicted to black pepper so I broke out my trusty pepper mill and added a generous portion of black pepper until I had obtained the flavor I was looking for. While I had a nice balanced sauce on my hands it still wasn’t quite where I wanted it so I added some fresh grated ginger for brightness and so that it left a super clean finish in your mouth. Again this was added until I had reached the flavor I was looking for. Finally I added a generous portion of melted butter to bring some richness and creamy buttery goodness to the sauce. I wasn’t too concerned with the butter altering the flavor profile because I knew that all of the flavors would intensify once heated and the butter would brown up and burn off as a whole. I did not plan on cooking my wings and then tossing them in the sauce, I grilled the wings until 95% cooked and then generously cooked/coated the wings in the sauce until they were finished entirely.

The only additional seasoning I added was basic salt and pepper prior to cooking the raw chicken on the grill. I posted this image before but here is what they came out looking like.

What I was left with were amazing crispy skinned wings, with a beautiful caramelized wing sauce that had what I felt was the perfect balance of spicy heat, sweetness, saltiness and brightness. This sauce definitely would be labeled as an Asian wing sauce, Sriracha, Soy Sauce and ginger are all classic items in Asian cooking, but they definitely had a certain American flair, while I think the term fusion is grossly over used and typically a bad idea, this I think classifies as Asian/American fusion.

I’m sorry I don’t have the exact recipe I used, but I think a valuable lesson you can pull from this post is that you can create amazing sauces by trusting your taste buds and continually tasting while creating it. If you focus on creating a balanced sauce that provides the flavor profile you are looking for you cannot lose when combining ingredients for your sauce.

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