la.foodblogging

Anyone who reads what I write on this website should know by now that I am a dumpling fanatic. Since moving out of LA, I have truly missed Din Tai Fung and Dumpling 10053. To add insult to injury, the “Chinese” restaurants here serve chop suey and egg foo young, so obviously, I’ve been really craving authentic Chinese food. I finally decided to throw an Asian potluck dinner party last night. Although that was the original theme, I wound up making dinner interactive. While I finished cooking the crab & lily bulb fried rice, chicken and vegetables potstickers, and green onion pancakes, I put my guests to work wrapping the pork wontons.

As soon as I got up in the morning, I started doing the basic prep work for the won ton filling. It really wasn’t too much work. I first mixed one pound of ground pork (which you may substitute for any other ground meat) with some finely chopped green onions. Next comes the marinade. Some people like to purchase marinades, but I prefer to know exactly what goes in them, so I always do my own. I added soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and rice wine to the mix, and after a thorough blend, let it sit in the fridge for about 8 hours. Once my guests showed up, I had won ton wrappers ready and egg wash ready. Wrappers can be purchased at your local grocery store (usually in the frozen section). Egg wash is just a beaten egg mixed with water. Water alone lacks the viscidity to seal the won ton wrapper, so you definitely need the egg wash instead.

I showed my guests how to place just a teaspoonful of the filling into the center and seal it up (with some help from the egg wash) in the shape of a triangle. The tough part was showing them how to twist the legs of the triangle to the head of the triangle. Nevertheless, they did it, and I’m pleased to say we had no won tons fall apart during the boiling process. (Add some bok choy to the soup if you desire.) The outcome didn’t come even close to the quality of Din Tai Fung’s won tons, but beggars can’t be choosers. I was very satisfied with the won tons we made, and more importantly, we had fun making them. I should also add that since we made over 50 won tons, I had plenty of uncooked ones left over, which are now residing in my freezer, ready to be cooked whenever I get hungry.

If you should decide to throw an Asian potluck of your own, and your guests don’t know what to bring (or vice versa), here are a few suggestions that worked very well at my party. Someone brought a simple green salad with a delicious ginger dressing. Another guest found plum wine (brand name Kinsen) that was delightfully sweet. As you can see from the photo, we just about finished the whole thing. One guest also went along with the interactive theme and had us all build our own Shrimp Spring Rolls. We filled our spring roll sheet with shrimp, rice stick noodles, cucumbers, lettuce, and mint. Served on the side was a top secret hoisin-based sauce. Of course, not all the guests brought Asian-themed food and beverage, but their contributions were equally appreciated.

By Pauline (see more of her posts).