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This amazing recipe has been living and breathing on my site for nearly 13 years now. I’ve updated it today with lots of new pictures (thank goodness) and instructions. While making changes to the post, I couldn’t help but reflect on the many years that we’ve been making this recipe, as a family. It’s one of those gather-round-the-counter-and-help type recipes. My daughter Emily requests them for her birthday each year…
Here she is, with my daughter Anna, building Won Tons so many years ago!
…and here they are now. They’ve grown into adults.
… and I’ve grown into a Grandma. 🙂
That’s the funny thing about time, isn’t it? It brings a person right along with it.
The Won Tons featured in this post are a result of my Father in laws missionary service in Japan when he was in his young adult-hood. Throughout the years he made them countless times for his large family of 8 children. I wonder if he realized when he started the tradition, that we would still be making them…nearly 60 years after he learned how.
This past weekend, as we made them for Emily’s 21st birthday…vegetables being chopped, fingers dipped into flour water paste, and pans sizzling with the finished product…it occurred to me again…
That food is a powerful tool that can brings us together.
For my entire married life we’ve been making this recipe. It brings up all kinds of nostalgia and sentimentality and memories.
But.
This little recipe would mean nothing to me, without the people I’ve made it with over the years.
I’m sometimes guilty of being so focused on the food, that I forget it’s actual use.
Obviously, it exists to nourish us.
But for this recipe…
…it’s the connection to my father in law, and my own children and now grandchildren is what I love most when I make them. It reminds me of him and and all the years that have gone by and the time we’ve spent loving and experiencing and struggling together.
Just a thought, for you today, my friends.
My love to you and your family. May we always use food as a tool to bring people together. 🙂
Now, let me show you how to make these terrific Won Tons happen.
You’re going to start with these pretty veggies.
Use a food processor to dice them up into tiny, tiny pieces. Add the ground beef and seasonings.
Grab your won ton wrappers…
… and place 4 out at a time.
Scoop a little less than a tablespoon onto each shell, then coat the inside corners with the flour and water paste.
Seal the edges.Cook according to directions below!
Ingredients
- Filling:
- 1/2 head green cabbage
- 2 onions
- 2-3 large carrots
- 1 T ginger
- 1 1/2 t salt
- 1 t red pepper flakes
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 t black pepper
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 egg
- Shells:
- 2 50 count pkg won ton wrappers (found in the produce section)
- flour and water (1 part flour to 2 parts water)
- Dipping Sauce:
- 1 C rice vinegar
- 1/2 C soy sauce
- 1 t red pepper flakes
- 1 t sesame oil
- 1/2 t toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/2 C sugar
Instructions
1. Chop the veggies up super small. We actually put them in a mini food processor, a few at a time to get them the right size. You want to be careful not to turn them to mush.
2. Mix the veggies, seasonings, and hamburger together. Add the egg and mix well. Adam usually just puts his hands in the bowl and mixes it all up that way.
3. Mix the flour and water together to make a paste.
4. Lay four won ton wrappers out at a time in a square. Dip your finger in the paste and then coat the inside edges of the wrappers with it. You can see in the picture below which edges have the paste on them.
5. Place about 1 T of meat mixture into the center of each wrapper.
6. Fold the edges of each wrapper together, and press so the paste has a chance to seal. Repeat with all wrappers.
7. In a large skillet heat 1 T olive oil. Fry the won tons over medium heat (covered) for about 5-6 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the won tons over and cook for another 5-6 minutes (uncovered)
8. After all the won tons are cooked (we usually have 2 fry pans and an electric skillet all going at the same time to speed things up) pour the Dipping Sauce ingredients into the hot fry pan. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Let it heat through for about 2 minutes. Pour into a serving dish and you are ready to eat. We serve it with piping hot white rice.
J and L,
I bet it would work out just fine to use ground turkey or chicken. Let me know how it goes!
~Jamie
Jamie!
We tried them out with ground turkey and it was fantastic!! We had a hard time getting an even brown on the wontons, but its probably operator error (and our uneven electric stove!). Still flavors were wonderful!
Have you ever tried frying them in a fryer?? (my husband's asking… you know, anytime he can use the fryer…)
Thanks for the recipe!
Lauren
Lauren,
So glad to hear you loved them! And yes, you can deep fry them.
Have a good one!
~Jamie
Excellent way to post a recipe. Wontons are commonly boiled and served in soup or sometimes deep-fried, but this is completely different at the same time is something easy to make. There are several common regional variations of shape.23jj
I used ground turkey for this recipe and it was SO GOOD! I didn't care for the dipping sauce though. It was too vinegary (is that a word?) for me.
We have started substituting the ground beef for mild sausage. I LOVE the flavor! Totally changes it…in a good way! YAY!! We also put approx 2T of peanut butter in the dipping sauce. (soy butter actually- because our oldest is allergic to PB). WHOA!! FLAVOR!!! I am kind of lazy, so I put a bag of coleslaw in place of the cabbage, carrot and stuff. I do add the onions, though. This is now a Lee family favorite. I get requests from my in-law bro/sisters to “come to my house for won tons”. They feed an army and everyone LOVES them.
I know this recipe was posted awhile ago, but man were these tasty!! I also took a shortcut and bought a bag of broccoli/carrot slaw and threw it in the food processor-tasted great! I ended up with a fair amount of meat leftover, but not enough to use a whole extra package of wontons-any ideas of what to do with the extra meat? I can’t wait to make these again!! Thanks for this recipe and the many others you share. 🙂
Hi Megan,
I’m so glad you loved these, they are a family favorite around here. 🙂 If you have leftover meat filling, you can freeze it and then use it another time. Just be sure to let it thaw completlety. It will be a little bit “wet” but if you press the liquid from it you should be fine. Good luck!
~Jamie
This looks wonderful. We lived in Japan for many years, and my kids are totally missing the food. Have you ever frozen the wontons before frying them? There’s only 4 of us here and I think 100 would be a bit much for us to eat.
Thanks so much for this site. You are my go-to for menu planning ’cause all your recipes are great! :o)
Hey jamie, I love your site! I was wondering if you could go ahead and cook the filling the night before and then put them into the wonton paper?
Anna,
The filling and the outer shell need to cook together to make these great. Best of luck!
~Jamie
These look great – my only issue is that I cook for just 1 – 2 people every day and always have leftover produce go bad because I cannot eat it in time. Have you ever made these in advance and froze them? Wondering if they would still be good (and as I am new to this freezer cooking method), am assuming it would have to be frozen uncooked and then cooked when ready to eat?
Sara,
I haven’t ever frozen the actual stuffed wontons, so I’m not sure how it would work out. I imagine if you could lay them out flat on a cookie sheet and freeze, then store them in a ziploc bag they would be fine. I have however frozen the filling with great success. Just let it thaw when you are ready to stuff the won ton wrappers and you will be good to go. Best of luck to you!
~Jamie