Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Priceless homemade wontons: worth bartering for!

This past football season, my sister asked my brother how much he wanted to be paid for his Husky/LSU football tix.  He didn’t want any money.  Just a big batch of homemade wontons.  That’s how good these are.  If you don’t know how to make them, you can’t even buy them.  You have to barter for them.

When I was a kid, as soon as my mom got out her big, turquoise-etched Pyrex Cinderella mixing bowl, my mouth would start to water --- homemade wontons!  She’d fill the bowl with her special ground pork mixture, grab multiple packages of wonton skins, and head to
the TV room.  Within the first half hour of “Days of Our Lives”, about a hundred beautifully wrapped wontons would fill a cookie sheet.  Perfect rows of edible origami.  We were just a pot of boiling water away from a hearty bowl of tender, tasty dumplings. 

Today, my own kids get just as excited when I make a batch.  (Only I do it while watching “Oprah”, not Hope and Bo.)  Sounds odd, but they also love the smell of the raw meat mixture.  Their faces are practically in the bowl, inhaling the sesame oil-and-ginger aroma.  When we return from a vacation, I always make sure I have a batch waiting in the freezer for us.  You know when you’ve been on vacation, and there’s nothing like climbing back into the comforts of your own bed?  Well the second most comforting ritual for us is sitting down to a steaming bowl of wontons.  It just says, “Welcome home!”

I have yet to find a Chinese restaurant that offers anything like these.  That’s why they’re so priceless in our family.  They can’t be bought.  You have to make them yourself.  Or else, strike a bargain with one of us to make them for you.  Now that the recipe is out, you have a better chance with the former vs. the latter.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mary! Your brother was the one who told me about your blog, and I have enjoyed reading your anecdotes, and trying out your recipes on my own family. However, I have to say a big THANK YOU for this recipe! (And for the story about said brother!) I crave homemade dumplings every day, so will be making a batch of these tomorrow...while watching the NCAA tourney selection! Go Dawgs! Cheers!

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