Thursday, July 15, 2010

"Cream Cheese" Wontons

GOOOOOOOOD Morning!  It's recipe time!!  This past Sunday I was invited (along with my husband and sister) to attend a World Cup final party.  This included about 5 or 6 carnivorous males and my sister and I.  Pretty much any opportunity I get to make food for people, I take and I run with it.  My friend hosting the party mentioned there would be "food" there, but what exactly would that entail? The last few times I have been to one of his parties where there was "food", it included pepperoni pizza rolls and bacon covered potato skins, oh and always the bowl of mystery Doritos that I'm offered because of the lack of meat.

Well, I didn't want to be stuck there watching  an uneventful soccer game and starving at the same time, so my sister and I decided we should make some yummy vegan food that the boys would enjoy as well.  So I made a blueberry brownie recipe that I have been wanting to try from the wonderful cookbook, Veganomicon.  I also altered a peanut butter blondie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar, where I replaced the chopped peanuts with mini vegan chocolate chips (these were delicious!!!).   My sister made a super yummy hummus dip. I wanted to make something not of the dessert variety, so I searched my cookbooks and the web to find something delicious but also something my husband would like because he is such a picky eater.  I have always loved fried cream cheese wontons from chinese restaurants but only about two restaurants near where I live make these, and all the other restaurants make Crab Rangoon which is clearly not the same thing.  So I actually found a recipe for vegan fried wontons but was disappointed to see the recipe was just vegan cream cheese shoved into a wonton wrapper and deep fried.  How boring!  So I made up my own recipe:
 
           Ingredients:
             * 1 8oz. tub of Tofutti "Better Than Cream Chesse"
             * 2 Tbsp. diced scallion (a.k.a. green onion) - about two to three stalks,diced, should do
             * 2 tsp. minced garlic - about two large cloves, minced
             * 1-1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
             * 1/2 tsp. Tamari ( a soy sauce with a stronger and slightly different flavor than the regular stuff)  you should be able to find it in most grocery stores in the Asian food section
             * 1 pkg. vegan wonton wrappers (you might have to go to an asian market to find egg-less ones)
             * Canola, Vegetable or Peanut oil for deep frying

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, garlic, scallion, lemon juice and tamari together using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer (I would use a large fork if you don't have a mixer).  Fill wonton wrappers by spooning a small amount of the cream cheese mixture on the middle of the wonton square (be sure not to use too much or the wrapper will not fold and the cream cheese will overflow).

Once you place your filling on the wrapper, you will need to fold your wonton.  Instructions for this are below. While you are filling your wontons, you can heat up your oil in a stock pot.  You should use enough oil to completely cover the wonton with some room for it to float. If you have a deep fryer,go ahead and bust that sucker out and use it.

To fold wonton, fold the square in half on the diagonal to form a triangle.  You will need to wet the edges of the square with some water before you fold so the edges will stick.  I just use some water in a cup next to me and my fingers (clean hands please!) to do this.  Once you have your triangle, fold in your two corners so they touch  and wet those corners as well so that they will stick to each other.  They will look very much like Italian tortellini pasta.  It sounds kind of weird but I swear it's really easy, I found this diagram on eatatlanta.com that I hope is helpful:



Once you have all of your wontons filled and folded, fry about 4 or 5 at a time in heated oil for about 2-4 minutes until they are a light golden brown color (if you've ever had a fried wonton, you know how they should look).  Use a slotted spoon to remove the wontons from the oil and place on some paper towels on a large plate or cookie sheet. Let cool for about five or ten minutes before devouring them.

This recipe makes about 20 wontons, but I would suggest making a double batch for a party because these things were gobbled up pretty fast.  I couldn't get enough of them and neither could the boys.  I wish I would have taken a picture but there were gone before I could even think to do that.  Next time I make them I will be sure to take a picture and add it to this post.

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