Chicken Wontons

Traditionally called Gyoza, I have cooked and eaten these delicious morsels from early High School until last night. Not really until last night, but last night was the last time I made them. Certainly not the LAST time I WILL make them. This is one of my favorite dishes!

When I was in High School, my step mother and I would stuff these little squares together, sometimes they were rounds, but stuffed with an equal amount of care. I got pretty good at wrapping. She was always in charge of the filling, which has changed over the years. The traditional wontons I once had are a thing of the past (although I would like to bring them back), they were filled with pork, cabbage, green onions, garlic and ginger...with some extra flavorings mixed in. The wontons I make now, are filled with Chicken, cabbage, green onions, carrots, garlic and pine nuts. Whatever you decide to add, as long as it is a savory ingredient will most likely be delicious. I've made these vegetarian using quorn product with an egg for binding, really anything works as long as it sticks together and the flavors go well together. I also have to add that this recipe is not really a recipe, it's more of a technique that actually changes a little every time I make it. So have fun.

The simpler you keep the ingredients the better they are.

Ingredients:

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1/3 - 1/2 head napa cabbage cut into cubes (to fit processor)
2 carrots grated or julienned
3 cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a knife, then chopped up a bit
3 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper
1 package of wonton wrappers

Dipping sauce:
Equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar with a dash of hot sesame oil if you like.

Serves: 4-6 or 2 with lots of leftovers for late night snacks, lunch tomorrow, etc.

Preparation:

Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan at low/medium heat until fragrant and toasty colored. Don't turn your head from the pan! They will burn quickly if you do. Toss them into a large mixing bowl.

Pulse process one chicken breast at a time in a food processor until it comes together in a ball. With the first batch, I add the garlic. Toss into the mixing bowl. Pulse process the other chicken breast alone, toss into the mixing bowl. Process the cubed up cabbage with the grated or julienned carrots and toss in the mixing bowl, don't over process the cabbage. Finely slice the scallions and add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Now, use your meticulously clean hands to mix the contents of the bowl into a well homogenized loaf. There should be a nice consistency of small chunks of stuff with smooth stuff. It looks at this point like you could make a meatloaf out of it, but this is NO meatloaf! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and compose yourself for 1/2 hour while the by-now room temperature chicken mixture cools down for a spell.

You can learn to wrap the wontons during this time by watching this short video a thousand times in a row...mind my chunky flour stained fingers...I've been wrapping a 'few' by this point...

This is the traditional three pleats per side technique, but I must say that they taste just as good anyway you can successfully get them closed and sealed without any air in them. Just make sure to pinch all the edges closed.

Use a teaspoon sized portion in each, and your wontons will be consistently the same size with no loss of filling. Before you place your teaspoon sized lump of goodness into the center of your wonton wrapper, moisten the edges of the wrapper with water so that a tight seal can be accomplished. You don't want these things opening up during cooking. Make sure to pinch all edges, too!
Now that you are a pro at wrapping, you can wrap all the wontons you care to eat (or have company for) and line them all up on a nice plate to get ready for the frying and steaming.

I use a copper bottomed stainless steel pan with a tight fitting lid, but my step mother and sister use a non-stick electric skillet (I don't really care for them... the electric skillets, not the people) I like to use the gas stove since I feel that the control of heat is key to a nicely browned and steamed wonton.

To cook:

Turn the skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon or so of toasted sesame oil. Heat that up to almost smoking, and add some wontons carefully one by one, don't crowd the pan, you will be cooking multiple batches. Let the wontons cook on their bottoms until they are browned but not burned, keep checking them. When they are nice, turn them on their side and brown that, too. Now turn the heat up for a few seconds to get the bottom of the pan nice and hot, and toss in a 1/4 cup or so of water and place the lid on really fast to capture the steam, then turn the heat down to medium low. Leave the lid on and don't look for about 3-4 minutes. Finally, check the wontons, and shake the pan so that they don't stick, and let the remaining water evaporate. Evacuate the lovelies into a bowl with a tinfoil lid to keep them warm while you cook the rest of the batches. Sometimes all you need is a paper towel to clean the pan, and other times there will be stickies that you need to wash out before you start the next round. Now, repeat from the top for the next batch, and so on. They will stay hot enough if you keep them in a bowl covered with tinfoil until you are ready to eat them.

You can either serve them fancy on a plate with 5 or 6 and a bit of dipping sauce, or serve them as I like to, in a big bowl covered with tinfoil to keep them warm and let your eating companions take what they want and go back for more.

I actually really love these cold straight from the fridge as a snack, too. I think that's why I always make too many. I always want leftovers!