New World's Tan Slice

I got this tan slice on special today from New World. Doesn't it look pretty? Tasted pretty good too especially the cherry/jelly things. It's a cool decorating idea.

Introducing: Our resident nutritionist

Well we may not have any new recipes up yet (don't worry they're on the way being edited) but we now have a resident nutritionist! Keep an eye on this space folks as she makes her introductions once google decides to let her create an account. It's all very exciting!

[Update: Since our resident nutritionist is a little shy talking about herself, I will do the introductions. *Drum roll*

Please welcome Ying to the crew. Ying brings with her 2 years hard work of study in Human Nutrition. She's just a student so don't be too hard on her! Ying has a passion for food though and will go great efforts when cooking to make everything from scratch for that "authentic mah" flavour.

She's also going to be our International Correspondent this summer - reporting about food all the way from Malaysia! (Well Kuching anyway haha).

Thank you thank you.]

Wanton one-ton of wontons!

Ok so I promised some yummy food content and here it is! The first recipe post from the newly rebranded cookmeameal.blogspot.com!

I'm having a dinner tomorrow (as I do on Sundays) and I decided to make wonton soup. Wontons are these little dumplings, made from minced pork and prawn, then wrapped in a thin flour layer. Usually the layer is bought but you could make your own with just flour, water and a little oil. You will need to roll it out very thin though so a noodle/pasta machine is recommended. Otherwise do what I usually do and buy a pack from your local Asian grocery store. They cost around NZ$3 for a pack of 50 layers - more than enough for one serving. Wontons can be served in a broth, either on its own or with noodles. They can also be deep fried and served as a side dish with ketchup and mayonnaise.

This recipe is a relatively basic one. I'll post more later about actually using the wontons in a dish since there are so many ways you can eat them. My flatmate was helping me make these and we ended up taking lots of instructional pictures which I'll add to the end of the post. Enjoy!

Chinese Wontons

Ingredients

• 500g of pork mince
• 200g of shrimps/prawns (this is optional but adds to the flavour)
• 1 pack, about 50 layers, of wonton "skins"
• 1 tbsp of cornflour
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tbsp of soy sauce, to taste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Roughly chop up the shrimps/prawns. If you got prawns you may want to devein them to get a smoother texture.
2. Mix the pork mince with your chopped prawns. Add the egg and mix well.
3. Add the soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. It's better to err on the side of being slightly salty as this will balance out with the broth.
4. Add the cornflour. At this point you will probably want to use your hands to mix everything up well. You want to end up with a mixture about the consistency of sausage meat so if it seems too runny add more cornflour.
5. Wrap the meat using about 1 1/2 tsp or 1/2 tbsp with each layer of wonton "skin". For tips see the pictures below.
6. To stop the wontons from sticking together, sprinkle a little cornflour on each and keep them separated. The wontons can be stored in the fridge for a few days or frozen for a few months. I usually make a large batch of these, freeze them then use them whenever I'm running late or too lazy to cook to bulk up my instant noodles.

Cooking

To cook the wontons place them in a pot of boiling water. You can make a broth using chicken or pork bones, vegetables and plain old salt and pepper then stick the wontons in. The wontons are cooked when they start to float in the water. Alternatively if you want to deep fry them, heat up a pan of oil. When the oil's hot (test with a wooden spoon or chopstick) put the wontons in. They will be done when golden brown and floating. Either way, serve and devour with your favoured condiment - soy sauce, tomato sauce, mayonnaise are all very, very good.

Wrapping

To wrap the wontons you will want to use a little bit of water. Just place the meat in the middle of the "skin", wet the edges and fold over. Press the edges firmly but not so hard that the "skin" breaks. One thing you want to watch out for is putting too much meat in at the start - try starting out using about 1/2 tbsp or so, although how much you want to add in the end depends on the size of your piece of "skin" and eating preference.

Here at cookmeameal we bring you an exclusive wonton-wrapping guide. We put a lot of hard work into taking these pictures so read on for different ways to wrap your bit of mince. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Style 1: The "standard" wrap

This style produces a wonton that has three "leaves" at one end. It is simple and very quick once you master the technique. You can use this in making both soup or in deep frying.

1. Put about 1/2 tbsp of mince in the middle of the "skin".
2. Wet the edges and fold in half diagonally, pressing the edges together.
3. To make the pattern, you need to make a fold on one end. Have a look at the picture as it is quite hard to describe. Basically you want to try and fold it in a 'z' pattern by bringing the one half behind. If it seems too complicated, just gather all the edges together in the middle and press together. This will give you more of a money-bag appearance but it taste just as good.
4. Make a similar crease at the other end, this time bringing the half forward. Done.

Style 2: The "chinese gold" wrap

A slightly more complicated style and produces dumplings that are shaped like chinese gold ingots. One could say that this could represent wealth but really it's just pretty to look at. This style is best suited for making soup although you could deep fry it if you prefer.

1. Put about 1/2 tbsp of mince in the middle of the "skin".
2. Wet the edges and fold in half diagonally, pressing the edges together.
3. Bring the two end together, wet and press firmly.
4. Turn the whole thing inside out to get the final shape.

Style 3: The "I'm too lazy let's get on with it" wrap

If you're too lazy/hungry or the pictures are too hard to figure out, just wet the edges of the wonton all around, fold in half and press them firmly.