Seven Castles

Wonton

                                      

June 17, 2008

 

Similar to Italian ravioli, a wonton is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines. These bite-size dumplings consist of paper-thin dough pillows filled with a minced mixture of meat, seafood and/or vegetables. They may be boiled, steamed or deep-fried and served as an appetizer, snack or side dish, usually with several sauces.

 

A related, but different kind of wonton is made by using the same kind of pastry wrapper, but merely applying a minute amount of filling (frequently meat) and quickly squashing the hand holding the wrapper together, creating an unevenly shaped wonton. These are called "little wonton" and are invariably served in a soup, often with condiments such as pickles, ginger, sesame oil and cilantro.

 

Each region of China has its own variations of wonton. In Cantonese cuisine, wonton is most commonly served with thin noodles to make wonton noodles. It is also consumed with red vinegar. In Sichuan, wonton is known as "copying hands" since the wonton skins are folded in the manner of crossed arms/hands. These are often served in a sesame paste and chili oil sauce as a dish called "red oil wonton".

 

In Mandarin, the name of the food roughly means "irregularly shaped dumpling". However, the English name derives from the Cantonese, a popular variant written form that literally means "swallowing clouds", as the wontons floating in this popular soup are thought to resemble clouds. Interestingly, both terms of "irregularly shaped dumpling" and "swallowing clouds" sound same in Cantonese.

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2008年06月17日 星期二 05:04】【注册】【打印】