What’s a Wonton?
A wonton is a filled pastry that is popular in Chinese cuisine. Usually, it is a savory dish, but it has also been co-opted as a dessert idea, most often filled with cream cheese. The savory or spicy versions can vary depending on where you go in China.
For example, according to thespruceeats.com, The Sichuan region is known to serve triangular dumplings with sesame paste and Sichuan peppercorn oil. The latter has earned it the street name red oil wonton. Meanwhile, the Cantonese enjoy shrimp-filled wontons with minced pork which are served in a broth with vegetables and noodles.
There are Hong Kong wontons, Shanghai wontons, and others as well. They come in different shapes, but most often they resemble tortellini. Mine don’t actually resemble tortellini and they are not the prettiest, but, they are delicious!
Suffice it to say, you could have an entire meal of wontons served in different ways and with different flavors. However, as I said before, what I really love is those sweet cream cheese-filled wontons. These were commonly made with crab and called crab Rangoon before ultimately dropping the seafood element in many Chinese take-out establishments.
It’s important not to overfill the wonton wrapper because it needs to seal around the edges. However, I could not resist embellishing this take-out classic by adding a little bit of raspberry filling as well. Yes, it is awesome. Here’s how to make it for yourself.