Won Tons Like Mom Used to Make

Well, like Mom used to make if your mom is Chinese. Which mine is. This recipe is very much a traditional family recipe in that it is one of those "some of this" and "a splash of that." It's very forgiving so just give it your best shot and I promise it'll be delicious.

Mama May's Won Tons
Filling:
1 lb. ground pork (I use ground turkey sometimes and nobody notices)
1/4 c. each onion, celery, carrot, and water chestnuts, chopped fine
1 generous splash soy sauce, or as we call it, shoyu
1 package won ton wrappers (you will probably have enough filling left over to fill two packs of wrappers, or just put the leftover filling in the freezer for another batch later)

Saute the veggies in a little oil, then add ground meat and shoyu. Cook until it's done, and let it cool for a while before you fill the won tons.

If you can get your kids to help you make these it's a lot less tedious. If you make them by yourself it will seem like every time you make a won ton, two more skins appear in the package. Give each person helping a plate and a small dish of water, and set a large "done" plate in the center of the table.

Put a small amount of filling in the center of each wrapper. Don't put too much or it'll be hard to fold and seal.

Dip your finger in the water and run it along two connected sides of the wrapper. Fold over diagonally, corner to corner and seal the edges together well. You don't want filling leaking out when you fry them.

Pick up the folded won ton and put a little water on the back of the right corner. Bring the right corner forward and bring it over to the left so that the back of the right corner seals to the front of the left corner. Put the third finger of your left hand in the center to make a little dent as you seal the corners. (Is that hard to understand? This is why I did not become a teacher...)

What a gorgeous pile of won tons you have made! Fry them in a couple inches of oil and try not to eat them all before you serve them. (You can also put these into broth and make won ton soup.) Dip them in some sweet chili dipping sauce that you can find ready made in the asian section of the market, or a mixture of shoyu and mustard. My kids just like them plain.