Authentic Shanghai Wonton 正宗上海雲吞 with Step by Step photo & Video

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter Holiday, well I spend most of my holiday staying home and study because I have 2 exam coming end of this month and not it time to procrastinate (I know it’s bad.). Although I cannot go out to enjoy this holiday but I’m very happy that I finally got my first stand mixer at home, even though I really have no time to make any use of it yet. Well if you ask what else have I done besides studying the whole time, it probably eating at home and enjoys some family bonding time.

As you can pretty much tell I’m Asian girl that live in Australia, my family came from shanghai and then they move to Hong Kong later on. Therefore my family is pretty multicultural on food but at the same time we still love our own Cultural food. Really Chinese cuisine is probably one of my weakest parts of cooking, but luckily my dad was used to work as cook while he is young that why I can enjoy almost every Chinese dishes at home and we rarely go out to have Chinese cuisine (except dimsim). I guess it also one of the reason I love cooking because after all home cooking is the best especially you have a professional at home. So my dad usually takes responsibility of all Chinese dishes while I do all the cuisine such as Italian, Japanese, Korean or French.

When I know tonight I’m going to have my favorite shanghainese dish – wonton for dinner, I ask my dad to show me how to make it, so I can make it myself later. It a relatively easy dish to make, according to my mum, they usually make wonton whenever they don’t want to cook as typical Chinese dinner has 3 dishes, 1 soup and unlimited rice. And the number of dishes will increase if you had a big family. It sound epic right just for a normal home dinner and you won’t want to know what will it like when it come to Chinese new year, the dish normally prepare a week ahead.

You may ask how come it looks different with the wonton I had in some Chinese restaurant? From what I know and understand, one dishes can be present and made differently according to region, I cannot answer which is the most authentic to call wonton but this recipe is what I had ever since I was young in a shanghainese family, so for me it is my authentic shanghainese wonton.

Hope you enjoy making this yummy wonton; to be honest whenever I was travelling, I do miss this home made wonton, which make me feel like home. This recipe is my memory of my family, it may not be the best one in the world but it is the best for me.

Ingredient

1 kg Pork Mince

500g Bok Choy

1 tablespoon cooking wine

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chicken powder

¼ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup water

1 egg

3 tablespoon olive oil

3 packet shanghai wonton pastry (42 sheet each pack)

Any flavor stock for soup

 

1) Cook Bok Choy in boiling water for 3 minutes until softened.  Drain the water out and chopped into smaller pieces. (The finest of the Bok Choy is up to your own preference; my family normally won’t chop it too fine so we can taste the Bok Choy.)

2) After chopping, drain the excess water out and set aside.

 

3) Put pork mince into a bowl with cooking wine, soy sauce, chicken powder, white pepper and salt. 
(Dad recommend to use pork mince which has a bit fat with it, it tastes better and it will become more juicer, lean pork mince will make it drier.) 

4) Use hand to combine everything together and stir in one direction. I stir in anti clockwise for another 3-5 minutes. This process will create better texture for the pork mince after cooked.
(The reason why we use hand to mix is that way we can feel what the pork texture was like.)

5) After all ingredients well combined, gradually add in ½ cup of water in while keep mixing it. (This way after it cooked, the wonton will become juicier.)

6) Keep stirring the pork until you feel it become thicken and sticky.

7) Combined the chopped Bok Choy with pork mince and keep stir in same direction until all combined.

8) Meanwhile add in olive oil and keep stirring.

 

9) Add egg in and keep stirring until it become thickens. (The reason to add egg is to make the mixture more smooth.) 

 

10) Prepare a bowl of water and wonton pastry.

11) Put small amount (about half tablespoon) Bok Choy pork mixture on the middle of wonton pastry.

12) Use finger tip and damp some water on the edge of the pastry.

13) Fold it in half and gently press together the edge.

14) Fold it in half again and twist on both, use the excess water to stick the corner together.

I made a video for Wonton Folding Tutorial.

15) Trial for 3-4 wonton and taste testing if the flavor is good.

16) Prepare a pot of boiling water, put the wonton in.

17) Once it starts wonton start floating, add ½ cup of water in to bring down the temperature. (According to my dad, this way the wonton pastry won’t go soggy while you trying to cook the meat inside.

18) When the water start boiling again, cook for another two minute. At this stage the wonton pastry should look little bit transparent.

19) You may add extra soy sauce if it not salty enough.

 

20) When you are happy with your wonton, keep working on the rest of the mixture.

21) Repeat step 16-18 for cooking instructions.

22) you can use any flavor soup stock for the wonton. We usually use chicken stock (Homemade).

Note: for excess wonton, put it in freezer for 30 minute to harden the pastry and then put in container or clip lock bag and store in freezer for 2 weeks.

Bon Appetite.