Asian Style Meat Veggie Wontons
A tasty appetizer, dim sum dish or as part of a meal of Asian dishes. Like the Veggie Wontons, except with meat.

The Sweet Chili Sauce dip adds a contrast to these and enhances the overall flavour.

Ingredients –

package of wonton wraps

2 tbsp (30 ml) cornstarch
1/4 cup (60 ml) water

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive or vegetable oil
2 tsp (10 ml) ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 lb (454 g) ground pork, beef or shrimp

Filling –
2 cups (500 ml) spinach
2 1/2 cups (625 ml) shredded cabbage or coleslaw
3 green onions, diced
1/2 cup (120 ml) bamboo shoots, chopped
2 tsp (10 ml) ginger, minced
2 garlic clove, crushed
3/4 cup (180 ml) water chestnuts, diced
1 tsp (5 ml) Chinese Five Spice
salt and pepper, to taste

3 tbsp (45 ml) soy sauce
1 tbsp (15 ml) sesame oil

Preparation –

  1. Prepare filling ingredients in a bowl (except soy sauce and sesame oil). Set aside.
  2. Heat olive oil and sauté minced ginger and crushed garlic slightly, to soften, before adding ground pork, beef or shrimp. Continue cooking until almost done, but not completely.
  3. Add vegetables, mix together and sauté to desired tenderness.
  4. Add soy sauce and sesame oil to season just before removing from heat. Cool.
  5. Mix water and cornstarch. This will glue the edges of the wonton together for cooking.
  6. Place a teaspoon of the meat filling in the centre of each wonton wrapper.
  7. Next, using your finger, paint the edges of each wrapper with water and cornstarch mixture then gather the edges and pinch them together, so they look like a small sack (see photo).
  8. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
  9. Place 12 or so wontons at a time into boiling water. When they rise to the surface they are done.
  10. Remove wontons from water with slotted spoon.

Serve with sweet chili sauce.

NOTE: Sweet Chili Sauce is available at most major and many small grocery stores – usually in with Thai  or Asian style cooking products.

Yields about 50 wontons