How To: Fold Wontons.

Growing up I always loved when my Aunties came to visit. It meant yummy Asian food time was near. One of my favorite things we'd make together were wontons. I love wontons because they're delicious and versatile. You can fry them or cook them in soup. You can fill them with whatever you'd like. Being vegetarian I always stuff mine with a mixture of minced carrots, celery, water chestnuts, baby carrots and soy sauce. If I'm making them for carnivores I just add whatever leftover meat is in the fridge, usually pork or chicken. You can also make the very popular crab and cream cheese version or desert versions with peaches and cinnamon.

Folding won tons isn't hard but it's not something that is learned in the average American household so I thought I'd share here. There are several different ways to fold them and different regions fold them differently so your way may be different than mine. Most use a mixture of a lightly beaten egg and water to keep the wontons closed. I usually just use warm water, it works well and I usually just wet the wontons with my finger. Sticking my finger in egg kind of grosses me out.

First, the easiest way is by simply folding one corner to the one across from it, forming a triangle. These are perfect for pan or deep frying. Plus, they hold more filling than more complicated foldings.

Secondly, this is the folding my family uses for soups. Fold one corner to the one across from it, just like in the last folding. Then, take one of the bottom triangle corners and fold it over to the other corner. These hold together well when boiling away in your soup.

Another very popular way to fold is referred to as the nurse's cap. It would take a lot of photos to explain it so instead I found a video. This video also features the flower bud fold.

The thing about wontons is that they are very time consuming to make. To cut down the time, make a little assembly line. Have someone chop the carrots, someone else on the celery etc. and then have everyone's nimble fingers folding away.

I decided to go for a yummy dessert filling, peach/cinnamon/brown sugar. YUM!

Be careful how you stack them after folding, they can stick together. If you're making lots, use a sheet of wax paper between layers to prevent them from sticking.

Make sure your heat isn't too hot or else you'll burn them in a matter of seconds.

I'm linking up at For the Love of Blogs for Tasty Tuesday and Home Sweet Farm for Delectable Tuesday.