LABOR OF LOVE

Today I finally got to work with my homemade Wonton Wrap Dough.  The dough I made yesterday was still warming from the fridge so I whipped up a fresh batch and let it set the required thirty minutes before working with it.

I wanted to see how it worked out straight from the recipe.  I found the dough amazingly easy to work with and if I could only cut a straight line or find a ruler in this house it would have been useful!  I was not sure what to use to cut the dough so I used my pizza cutter after rolling the dough as thinly as I could ~ without a machine I think I did pretty well!

I gathered my ingredients,
 2 cups of flour,
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of water

I mixed the egg and the salt with
1/4 cup of water.

Then I sifted the flour and made a
well in the middle and added the egg mixture.

 The dough was great, formed well and I covered it for a half hour to rest.

 I floured my marble board and got my rolling pin out of the freezer, divided the dough and rolled it out.  Cutting uniformly was a trick for me, as I can't cut a straight line with a paper cutter, let alone a pizza cutter!

I stored the wraps in a plastic bag in the fridge so they would not dry out as I was working with the dough.

They can be stored in the freezer if you are not using right away.  I am not sure the life of them, but with store bought ones, they do mold rather quickly if you do not use them                                                       right away.

Now they are ready for the filling!  I am expecting my friend Laurie to come and be a guinea pig with me, so while she was out shopping and doing her chores, I got ready for the filling.

CRAB RANGOON

1 brick 8 oz. softened cream cheese

2 oz crab meat finely diced

1 TBS powdered sugar

pinch of salt

I let the cream cheese soften as I diced the crab meat.  I added the crab, sugar and pinch of salt and mixed it well.  I put it back in the fridge to chill a little.  They say you can refrigerate it and remove it an hour before making your Rangoon's.

That was so easy, but I was starving by the time I got them ready for oil.  Since my friend had not called yet, I decided to make the Won Ton Soup.  Under normal circumstances I would make my own Chicken Stock. However, I cheated this time and opened up a can and a box of soup stock.

I added some sesame oil and some chopped onions to the broth, along with six or eight thin strips of pork I had cut before I ground the pork.  I tossed it into a pan and got busy making the Won Tons for the soup, as I had the remaining wraps to fill.

I repeated the steps for filling the wrappers.  I boiled a pan of water and cooked three of the largest won tons for 5 to 8 minutes.  A good indicator is when they float to the top.  They were huge, but had enough room to move around and cook.  I removed them from the boiling water and added some of the chicken stock, adding some cilantro on top for a little color.

I was just digging into my soup when Laurie phoned and was on her way.  I was very happy to hear this and before I knew it she was outside knocking on my door.  I turned on the oil and  I offered her some soup but she declined so we went out into the living room to catch up for a few minutes while the oil heated up.  It also gave me a chance to finish my soup.

 When the oil was hot I added them four at a time to begin.  They popped to the surface, and while they were not overly pale, they were not brown.

I took them out and we tried them after I added four more.  They were good!  They cooked really easily and were crispy and the filling was smoking hot as well, and not gone, as sometimes happens when they are overcooked!

I was satisfied with the results until I put too many in the pan at one time.  They popped to the top but were a little doughy, so I reduced the number on the last two batches and regained better than restaurant quality at with a really small input of anything except time.

I must admit that I forgot to take the pictures of the cooking and finished product until after we ate and these were the remainder between the two of us and there were 18 of them.  I do not think either one of us will be eating dinner this evening!