Dank Recipes: Seafood Wontons with Cilantro Vinagarette

I cook a fair amount and I like to take pics of the finished product. Why? I have absolutely no idea. I found this recipe for Seafood Wontons with Cilantro Vinagarette in an Asian cookbook awhile back and its damn good. I decided to make it again this past weekend so I thought Id share. Its a light meal that I serve on top of a salad even though the recipe doesnt call for it. The cilantro vinagarette makes a killer salad dressing. The water chestnuts inside the wonton filling provide an awesome crunch and add a really fresh and clean flavor, while the green chili gives a subtle kick. This recipe is pretty easy to make, it just takes time to fill and seal all of the wontons. Another thing I like about this recipe is that you can boil the whole bunch, eat what you want, and then save the rest in an airtight container in the fridge. When you want leftovers, you can either nuke em in the microwave or boil a pot of water and drop the wontons in for a few minutes (this is how I roll...) and they still taste great. This is key when you live alone and travel a ton for work. I imagine that you could go the less healthy/more flavorful route and pan fry the wontons too. Adding them to a soup broth would probably kick ass as well, especially if youre sick like I am right now (...wontons boiling as I type).



Here's what you'll need to get your wonton on...

(Serves 4)

8oz raw shrimp, peeled/deveined
4oz white crabmeat, picked apart
4 canned whole water chestnuts, diced fine
1 scallion, chopped fine
1 small green chili, seeded, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 egg, separated (white for filling, yoke for sealing wontons)
20-30 wonton wrappers
salt, fresh ground pepper
cilantro leaves

For the cilantro dressing:

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons diced red pepper

Time to get it on...

1.) You could either go the slow route finely dicing the shrimp or the fast route in the food processor on pulse - you only need to pulse it once or twice. Ive done both and they each work. Dicing gives you bigger chunks, processing is waaaaaay faster and makes stuffing the filling a helluva lot easier. Either way, add it to a bowl along with the crabmeat, water chestnuts, scallion, chili, ginger, and egg white. Season with salt & pepper and stir/fold all the ingredients together.

2.) Lay down a wonton wrapper on a board, paint the edges with the egg yoke, and drop some of the filling in the middle (a little ball about the width of a quarter). Then fold one corner over its opposite to form a triangle and seal the wonton but make sure to press out all the air as best as you can. Then, bring the 2 side points up over the filling and pinch them together to get a tight wonton shape.

3.) Fill a pot halfway with water and bring to a boil and add the wontons, a few at a time. I get about 12 or so in a fairly large pot. Most will sink, while the ones with a little air inside will float a bit. Remind you of anything else? When they are ready, they all start to float and the wontons become translucent, showing the cooked seafood on the inside (this is usually about 3-4 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and keep them warm while you drop in the next batch.

4.) Make the cilantro vinegarette by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl. Plate the wontons on an empty plate or on top of mixed greens or baby spinach, then drizzle with the dressing and top with some cilantro leaves for looks.

5.) Chow down!