Fried Wontons

Fried Wontons -

Assembling fried wontons is a fun activity for a small group of people hanging out. It's kind of mindless work and you can get good production even with distractions or a glass in your other hand.

Ingredients:

2 sprigs cilantro Optional
1 clove garlic
1 pinch ground pepper
1/2 cup ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 package wonton skin
For filling:
Mince garlic and cilantro. Mix all ingredients together, except for the wonton skin and vegetable oil.

Direction:

To make the wonton, put half a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the skin. Pick up one corner and fold it to the diagonal corner. Pick up the 2 ends that have 45 degrees angle (the ones where the fold is) and wet them with a dab of water on you finger. Pinch the two corners together. You will want to prepare all of your wontons before frying them, so that you are not trying to manage both the hot oil and getting the wontons folded.
Heat up the oil in a frying pan or wok at medium heat. To test when the oil is hot enough, stick a wooden chopstick in the oil. When the oil is ready the bubbles will come up from the chopstick. Fry the wonton until golden brown. Watch the heat carefully. Keep turning them to cook them all the way through. You may want to break open the first couple wontons to make sure that the centers get cooked.
This recipe will make 25 wontons. Serve hot with the sweet and sour sauce below.

Sweet and Sour Sauce (Nam Jim):

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground fresh chili paste
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons water

Direction:

Put all ingredients together in a small bowl and microwave it until the sugar is dissolved. Stir to prevent the sugar from crystalizing on the bottom. It should take about a minute or so depending on your microwave.

Tips:
Substitute ground chicken or turkey for the ground pork if you like.
Make sure you don't over stuff the wonton. The skin will get burned before the pork is cooked.
Be careful about microwaving sugary mixtures too long because the sugar gets extremely hot and can crack a bowl due to thermal expansion of the area where the sugar is.