Which brings me to my next point… How To Fold Fried Wontons Folded wontons before they are fried If you’re better at stuffing your wontons, you can probably get away with just one pack. It chagrins me to no end that I usually use one pack and then have to open a brand new pack just to use 4 or 5 to finish using up my filling. You can buy them refrigerated in packs of 40 or 50. I use store bought wonton wrappers, and THERE IS NO SHAME IN THAT. Oh, the question that haunts me every time I make dumplings. You can find water chestnuts in cans in the international aisle of many grocery stores, but of course Asian grocery stores will have them too. You CANNOT omit the water chestnuts! They are vital for adding the tiniest bit of crunch to each bite. The other ingredients for the filling are green onions, a little soy sauce, and chopped water chestnuts. If you’re feeling lazy, you absolutely can omit the pork and use only beef. Okay, okay, I know I call these beef wontons, but actually my grandma uses a mix of beef and pork. So if you know, please help me out and tell me in the comments! EDIT: Hawaiian Gau Gee!Īfter polling the internet on Instagram, I have discovered that these wontons are most likely a derivative of the Hawaiian food known as crispy gau gee! Thank you Naomi for letting me know! Fried Wonton Filling So in my mind they were always Japanese food.īut maybe they’re not? Are they a type of Asian fusion Hawaiian food? Are they from a really specific region of Japan? Even Google wasn’t able to provide the answer. And you can find them every year at the Obon festivals in Southern California. And every Japanese American family I know makes them. Seriously, I asked friends who grew up in Japan, and no one had heard of fried beef wontons before.Īnd yet, my grandma, who grew up in Japan, made them. Unfortunately, I have no idea what they are. Japanese fried beef wontons Are Fried Wontons Authentic?īefore get started, I wanted to talk about the cultural roots of the beef wontons. *Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. And now I’m sharing it with you! *Edit: I have discovered that these wontons may be a Chinese-Hawaiian fusion food known as gau gee, so I am editing the name of the post to reflect that! My grandma passed away last year, but thankfully I have relatives who remembered how she made it.
Fried wontons are not necessarily traditional oshogatsu food, but it is a staple for Japanese American families. My grandma used to make these for family gatherings, especially at New Year’s. These deep fried wontons are sold at Japanese Obon festivals in California every summer, and every Japanese American family I know has their own wonton recipe.
You can easily substitute with the wonton wrapper in your local grocery stores.I love Japanese fried beef wontons. I am using a Hong Kong style soup dumpling wraps from the Asian Store. I wrapped up the tray and left it out, it will be frozen in about 15 mins! I can then store them in a Ziploc bag! When I am ready to make some dumpling, I can easily take a few out at a time. The rest were laid out on a tray separately and it is in the "natural" freezer outside right now.
Crispy gau gee full#
We Islanders do love our fried food! I made one full recipe here, I only fried a few. Chinese will usually have it steamed, in soup or as pan fried pot stickers style. Gau Gee is actually Chinese, it means dumpling in Cantonese. I am making a beef version with a " Kūlia" twist with some Thai basil and garlic chives. Traditionally, the filling is pork and may be with shrimp. Gau Gee is a very popular appetizer on the Islands, especially on Superbowl Sunday!! My dear friend/blogger Moni of Foodie Forever inspired me to make some this weekend. Hawaiian is the ultimate melting pot, our foods and cultures are a fusion of different ethnic groups.