These cream cheese wontons bring the delicious flavors of an Asian restaurant to your own kitchen. Perfect this recipe as either a main dish or a side with your favorite Asian noodle dish.
Instructions
1. The first step in making mini wontons is to prepare the filling. A half hour or so before cooking, take your cream cheese out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature. Once soft, empty your cream cheese into a small glass mixing bowl and add chives. For chives in a tube, use about 1 tablespoon; for dried chives, 2 tablespoons. If using fresh chives, gather a small bunch between your fingertips and hold above your mixing bowl, starting at the ends, use a pair of kitchen scissors to finely chop the chives until there is about three tablespoons in the mix.
2. Using a spatula, thoroughly mix your cream cheese filling and set aside. Take out about 30 wonton wrappers from your package and set them on a plate. One by one you'll be peeling them apart to fill, so it helps if you separate them beforehand and restack them diagonally, the corners of each one hanging off the straight edges of the next.
3. Fill a small saucepan up about halfway with vegetable oil and put over medium high heat. While you wait for your oil to heat up, fill a shallow dish with water and set it next to your wonton plate and glass mixing bowl. Also, slice a wonton wrapper into several thin strips. You can use these to test the oil from time to time and make sure it's hot enough. Just drop one in and see how long it takes to become crispy. If it takes more than a second or two, your oil needs a little longer to heat, or perhaps a higher temperature setting.
4. While waiting for your oil to heat, you can also start preparing your wontons for cooking. Spoon a small amount of mixture onto the center of each wonton wrapper. Then dip your fingertip into the dish of water and use it to moisten the edges of the wrapper. Instead of folding into a triangle such as in traditional wontons, pull all four edges of the wrapper up together and pinch at the base, creating a tiny "purse."
5. Using a slotted spoon, cook your wontons one at a time by briefly submerging them in the oil. Immediately they should start to turn white and bubble. Once the wrappers start to turn a goldenish color, remove them and set on a folded paper bag to drain. If desired, sprinkle with a few sesame seeds immediately.
6. Presentation is everything. Cover a small plate with a layer of lettuce leaves before dishing up your wontons. Leave room for a condiment sized cup of dipping sauce, such as curry peanut, and a parsley or bean sprout garnish.
Tags: cream cheese, mixing bowl, your cream, your cream cheese, your wontons