Happy Year of the Rat!

Chinese (Lunar) New Year is upon us once again, and this time we’re celebrating with a little nibble that is loved all over the world. I defy anyone to not enjoy a crispy, crunchy, golden deep-fried wonton!

Fried wontons have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Not only because I love eating them, but also because it was always my job to help make wontons at our parents’ market stall. Wonton wrappers usually come in blocks, and sometimes the individual sheets can stick together. That’s where my miniature, 4-year-old dextrous fingers came in handy. I had a knack for peeling the wrappers away neatly, which made fewer ripped wrappers and less wastage. It always made me feel proud to see our customers enjoying a brown paper bag stuffed full of wontons.

The recipe that we’re sharing today is a tribute to those awesome market wontons, with a filling that makes a star out of the humble cabbage. Cabbage is a really underrated vegetable, but you’ll see it cropping up in loads of traditional dumpling recipes, as well as recipe menus. There’s a couple of reasons for this. First, there’s a wonderful delicate sweetness to cabbage that works very well with that other favourite Canto ingredient, pork. Second, finely diced cabbage sits just on the right side of juicy – not so juicy that it waterlogs the filling and makes the wonton difficult to wrap, but juicy enough that it keeps the filling nicely moist. Have you ever bitten into a dumpling to be greeted by that gorgeous, almost brothy trickle? That’s the work of a vegetable like cabbage, releasing it’s juiciness, and mingling with the pork.

If the image of cabbage juice mingling with pork hasn’t convinced you to try these wontons yet (if not, why not?) then I’ll just leave these words here: sweet and sour sauce.

Fried wontons are definitely a treat, and there’s no better time to treat yourself than Chinese New Year! Go on, we know you want to!