This healthy recipe for Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons has been slightly Americanized so that anyone can make them. Make one batch or double (or triple) it to keep some in your freezer for easy weeknight meals. Eat them with your fingers or use them in soup!
Our Food Stories series continues today with fellow dietitian Nikki Nies. Nikki was adopted from China at a young age by her American parents. Her mom and dad made every effort to bring Chinese culture into Nikki’s childhood home — including Chinese cookery! She remembers making upwards of 100 won tons at a time with her dad and eating hot won ton soup year round. Keep reading for more touching kitchen memories and some Chinese cooking tips!
One of my favorite parts of getting to know someone is learning about their food traditions, dining memories and how those practices have evolved as they venture into their adult years. I’ll often ask what practices they have kept and what childhood traditions they want to reintroduce.
With that said, looking back at my childhood, it makes sense why my favorite place in the house is the kitchen and why my constant aim is to provide a hospitable, inviting place. As a youngster, I didn’t understand why we always ate at home. Even though I’d plead with my mother to try the latest fast food option and had a hard time understanding my parents version of pizza night — making our own tomato sauce and dough — I’ve come to cherish those memories and recognize how spoiled I was that I have parents who love cooking. I recognize that not everyone’s mother was able or wanted to stay at home, but looking back, I continue to be grateful for developing a palette that yearns for homemade combinations.
As an adopted Chinese American, I’m indebted to my parents for not only embracing my culture, but also for bringing the culture into our house. While my parents are Caucasian, I used to joke we were all Asian as we observed Chinese Lunar Year, the Spring Festival, and frequented Chinese markets more than I could count. I vividly remember asking my mother what Welsh customs she wanted us to incorporate into the holidays and she was content with remaining with our Chinese traditions. We would throw annual Chinese New Year parties for my Girl Scout troop, my dad’s colleagues, and our church friends—teaching and sharing ‘must haves’ for the celebration. Even before they adopted me, my dad had taken Chinese cooking classes with a beloved friend, Sharon Quan.
At fourteen, it was decided it was time for me to learn from an authentic Chinese cook, so my dad and I attended Sharon Quan’s weekly Chinese cooking classes. As we all know, the right quality tools make a world of difference. For the class, I picked out my first cleaver, the all-purpose Chinese tool. Every part of the cleaver gets used—whether the blunt top edge to pound and tenderize meat, the blade to transfer food from a cutting board, or the flat end as a substitute for a pestle. Also known as the Chinese Chef’s knife, it’s best to limit chopping bones for knives that have heavier blades.
My love for ethnic grocery stores developed as my dad and I would head to the Asian markets to recreate the dishes we made in class. We would roam the grocery aisles, looking at unfamiliar products labels, but recognizing that the graphics were along the lines of what we wanted. That was half the fun. That type of trial and error was how I developed a need for chili garlic sauce as a staple ingredient in my meals.
As my knowledge of Chinese cooking developed, it confirmed that authentic Chinese food could be healthy. With many vegetable based dishes, meat can and often is omitted and/or used in small quantities. The vegetables are the star of the dish. Of course, you always need to have rice. Over the years, I’ve made tweaks and I stick to serving myself half a cup of brown rice with each meal.
If you want to venture into the land of Chinese cuisine, I suggest the following tools:
- Woks: Can and should be used for more than just stir-fries. They’re great for braising, boiling, searing, stewing, making soup, smoking and roasting nuts, pan-frying, poaching, steaming, and indoor smoking. With an array of sizes, metals, handle arrangements and shapes, there is more than plenty that can fit your culinary needs. Carbon steel is the most popular type of metal used as it heats quickly and evenly, is inexpensive, durable and practically nonstick.
- Cleavers/knives: Vary in size and shape. Best option is to head to a store and find one that feels most comfortable and you can have a good grip.
- Steamers: Whether it’s a metal basket or bamboo, they’re great to have on hand for bread, whole fish, chicken, dumplings, and veggies.
With the above-mentioned tools, we were able to make won tons, a staple in our house. I have countless memories of my dad and me making more than 100 won tons at a time, steaming some and freezing the rest for later soup days. The best part? We would change up the protein mixture based on our guest preferences. I always voted for the shrimp, but any source of protein will do. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with tofu and those have been a hit with friends too.
My mother would always exclaim she couldn’t believe I could eat soup in 90-degree summer weather. But with such tasty, homemade won tons, I don’t discriminate what time of year they’re eaten. To this day, I love eating ramen and pho in the summer days too! In my group of my friends, if I’m not having them over for a themed meal night (e.g. Disney night) or using them as taste testers, I’m the one suggesting the hole in the wall restaurant, the non-chain commodity that doesn’t necessarily have an online menu. I aim to direct others to these great chefs and love finding local new finds.
While my family isn’t the traditional looking Asian family, I’m so grateful my parents embraced my culture head on and allowed me to develop my own passion for this rich cuisine. Nowadays I don’t yearn for drive-thru or chain restaurant meals. I’m more than happy to have people over to share my favorite dishes. If you’re ever in Dallas, stop on by, I’d love to have you over for won ton soup!
Nikki is a Dallas based rehab/skilled nursing facility dietitian, provides telehealth counseling to EduPlated clients and is the current Texas Academy Northeast Region Director. Connect with her on Twitter @simpleeatsRD.
Nikki and her dad make Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons together, so how fitting it was that I was able to make the recipe with my mom. We had a blast picking out the ingredients and mixing up the filling. We chatted about how delicious the aroma was and how badly we wanted to taste the filling… before they were even cooked! I did make a few changes to the original, traditional recipe, but only to make it a little easier on the American cook. (i.e. You wouldn’t find an Italian sausage in a Chinese dish, you see.)
Mom and I happened to have friends over the afternoon we made Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons and, as soon as they were cool enough to eat, they were gone. In all the bellies. Even my vegetarian friend ate one or two. The soy makes them salty and they’re a little sweet from that sausage. (I read that Chinese sausages are typically sweet too, so I feel okay about this substitution.) The fresh wonton is soft and delicate. And people love bite-size things. I think the won tons are beautiful with the shrimp tail sticking straight out of them, but here’s a tip: To save time and to make won ton folding easier, you can chop up the raw shrimp and mix it in with the rest of the filling. You’ll shave probably 10-15 minutes of prep time and I promise your Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons will still disappear within minutes of setting them on the table.
Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons
This healthy recipe for Pork and Shrimp Chinese Won Tons has been slightly Americanized so that anyone can make them. Make one batch or double (or triple) it to keep some in your freezer for easy weeknight meals. Eat them with your fingers or use them in soup!
Ingredients
- 1 pound med size shrimp about 40
- 3 ounces boneless pork loin cut into small cubes (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 piece sweet Italian sausage casing removed, smashed
- 6 medium dry shiitake mushrooms soaked until soft and cut into small pieces
- 1 scallion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- dash pepper
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 40 won ton wrappers
- Additional soy sauce and sesame oil for dipping
Instructions
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Shell shrimp, but leave tail intact.* Pat dry, set aside for later use.
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In a medium bowl, combine pork, sausage, mushrooms, scallion, water chestnuts, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and cornstarch. Mix well.
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To make the won tons: Place a sheet of wonton wrapper on your palm. Drop about 1 teaspoon of mixture onto the wonton wrapper and top with 1 shrimp, tail up. Gather the edges of the won ton wrapper around the tail of the shrimp. Repeat until you run out of won ton wrappers or filling.
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Line steamer with wax paper and place over medium high heat. Add won tons, cover the steamer with a lid, and steam for 20-25 minutes until won ton wrappers are soft and noodle-like and filling has cooked through.
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Serve with a sauce made of equal parts soy sauce and sesame oil.
Recipe Notes
*To make this recipe easier, you may take the tails off the shrimp as well, chop them, and add to the rest of the filling.
