Pork and Cabbage Wontons with Sesame Soy Dipping Sauce

A couple of years ago, I realized how easy it was to make sassy adaptations of egg rolls. The secret being....cornstarch. Once you buy egg roll or wonton wrappers, the world is your oyster. 

You can stir fry together anything you want and, once it has cooked, toss in a couple tablespoons of corn starch to bind the mixture together. I have sauteed corn, black beans, onions and chilies for Southwestern egg rolls [tossed a little cheese in before stuffing]. I have simply ripped open a bag of cole slaw mix and poured in a little sesame oil and soy sauce while sauteeing.

Once they are stuffed, feel free to experiment with different cooking methods: steaming, baking with an egg wash. I find that you really can't beat a good fry!

Pork and Cabbage Wontons
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
3/4 pound of ground pork
1/2 of a bag of coleslaw [about 8 oz]
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 T corn starch
1 package of wonton wrappers
Small bowl of water [for wonton sealing purposes]
Oil for pan frying [Depending on the size, of your pan, pour oil in until your reach an oil depth of about a 1/3 of an inch...more is fine too if you are heavy-handed]


Wonton Dipping Sauce
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 finely chopped green onion
1 T toasted sesame seeds
 
In a frying pan, heat the tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the ground pork and cook until slightly brown.

Add the onion, coleslaw, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook, covered, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and the coleslaw has wilted.

Sprinkle the corn starch over the top of the wonton stuffing and stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture looks glossy and starts to clump together.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. During this time, mix together your dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

 Begin assembling your wontons. If you have a fancy way of making and rolling wontons,  insert here. I found that the easiest way was to lay a wrapper in the palm of my hand, place about a tablespoon or so of the mixture on one half of the circle, dip my finger in water and trace the rim of the wrapper with my wet finger, then fold the empty half of the wonton over onto the full half so that you have a half-moon and finish by pinching the sides together. 

Once you have all your wontons ready to go, begin heating your oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Once you can put a drop of water in the oil and it starts spitting, you are ready to fry.

Being careful not to crowd the pan [wontons can’t be touching each other], place your wontons in the pan. Fry for a couple minutes per side or until each side is golden.

This recipe made a large batch of wontons. We froze about 15 of them before frying so that we wouldn’t go hog wild at dinner!