Sausage and Shrimp Fried Wontons

Asian Intermediate total40 mins servings24 – 32

• 6 ounces ground pork (if you can’t find it, substitute sweet Italian sausage)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Quarter-size slice ginger, finely minced
• (optional) 4 ounces peeled, deveined shrimp, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• ¼ cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Crushed red pepper
• 24 – 32 square Wonton wrappers

1. Heat ground pork in sesame oil, cooking it and separating it until no longer pink. Stir in the garlic and ginger and sauté for a moment. Add chopped shrimp and sauté until opaque. Transfer mixture to a bowl and with a wooden spoon or your hands work in soy sauce, rice vinegar, broth and coriander; season with salt and crushed red pepper.
2. Put ½ teaspoon filling in center of each wonton skin. Wet one edge only. Gather top edge over and pleat and press down as you go.
3. Heat 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil in a large saucepan or medium skillet until a deep-fry thermometer inserted in the oil registers just under 350°F. (You don’t want the oil too hot or it will burn the wontons. Experiment with a spare sheet of wonton wrappers to check.)
4. In batches of 4 or 5 at a time, fry the wontons for 45 seconds to 1 minute, flipping carefully midway through to make sure they brown evenly. Remove them when you think they still could stand to slightly brown a teeny bit more (because they will slightly brown in the seconds after you remove them from the pan!). Drain the wontons on a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining batches.
5. It’s best to wait 5 to 10 minutes before serving the wontons, as the filling can be quite hot. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Tips

• You can used frozen, dried shrimp finely chopped. I rehydrate them in the soy sauce, rice vinegar and chicken broth mixture and cook with the pork briefly.
• I sometimes add Chinese cabbage and carrot, as well.
• Can be frozen on parchment lined baking pan; when solid, place in freezer bags.