How To Make Wonton Pastry
Wonton pastry is easy to make and is quite versatile to use for making other different snacks. Make them in bulk and have the pastry as the keeper.
Wonton Pastry
Wonton pastry is something that you would usually buy instead of making, right? Because the idea of spending your time and energy in kneading the dough and rolling it out into a very-thin pastry can be intimidating.
Really, time is precious. And your energy is often needed somewhere else. Especially when you have young kids that are always seeking your attention all the time. Who would want to make wonton pastry?
I wouldnโt. It was just easier and cheaper for me to go to Chinatown and buy the packs of those pastries.
Wait a minute, so why am I sharing this tutorial then?
Well, I feel that I have to share. Just in case you are in the same boat as me at the moment. Restricted. Yes. Due to the ongoing pandemic, shopping is very restricted for me. It’s because of the health issues that both my husband and I have.
So, when my little one kept asking when I was gonna make him Chicken Wontons again, I felt so sorry for him. Because I didnโt have the wonton pastry stocked up in my freezer. The last package was long gone during the mid of lockdown.
And since we are now in a stricter restriction, there is no way I would go to Chinatown for the pastry.
Hence, I had to make my own wonton pastry. And now Iโm sharing with you how to make it. To encourage you that it is actually easy to make your own pastry.
You only need a little love and patience. But itโs not rocket science. Trust me. And it doesn’t take much time to make. Though you do have to wait for some time for the gluten in the flour to work.
Types of wonton pastry
Essentially, there are 2 types of wonton pastry. One with eggs (whether itโs whole egg or just the yolk), the other is without eggs.
Thatโs it really. The rest is just to do with the methods you use to make it.
So in this post, Iโm sharing with you the pastry without eggs. Simply because this type is actually the one that is often used in Indonesia as Pangsit (which means wonton).
Besides, not only you can use this pastry to make chicken wontons, but also to make lumpia (eggrolls), crab rangoon, spring rolls, gyoza, or even Samosas. So this pastry is quite versatile.
I will post the recipes for them one by one. God willing.
Simple Ingredients
You only need plain flour, salt and water. Thatโs it.
And because you roll out the dough into a very-thin pastry, you can make many pastry sheets for a little amount of flour.
In this recipe, I use 300 grams of plain flour, and it yields about 60 pieces of round circle wonton pastry with a diameter around 4.5-inches.
So, for 2 ยผ cups = 300 grams of plain flour, you will need ยพ cup of hot water and about ยฝ teaspoon of salt. I use tap water at its highest temperature.
How to make wonton pastry
Firstly, you place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and stir well using a fork.
Then make a well in the centre and pour the water in it. Using a fork, gently stir the water towards the flour to mix. Keep mixing until the flour absorbs all the water.
When the dough is warm enough to touch, start kneading it lightly. It may be a little wet but keep on kneading for about 7-10 until the dough becomes smooth.
Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover it with a cling film or a tea towel. Leave it to rest for about 20-30 minutes, then knead it again for 5 minutes before you set aside to rest for another 20-30 minutes. Do this three times.
After the dough has rested for the third time, divide it into 5-6 equal pieces. Take one out and leave the rest in the bowl covered with a tea towel.
Sprinkle cornflour on a wooden chopping board and the rolling pin. Lightly dust the dough with cornflour and start rolling it out. Sprinkle more cornflour over the dough if needed so you can roll the dough as thin as possible. I always aim to roll the dough into a 1 mm/0.03-inch thickness.
Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough and sprinkle more cornflour generously before you stack the cut pastries.
How to store
You can keep the wonton pastry in a food container and store it in the fridge/ refrigerator for about 1 week. If you want to freeze, wrap the pastry in cling film, and put it in a zip lock back. It keeps well in the freezer for two months.
Step-by-step on how to make wonton pastry
How to make wonton pastry
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Chopping board
- Round cookie cutter
Materials
- 2 ยผ cups plain flour.
- ยฝ teaspoon salt.
- ยพ cup of hot water not boiling water. Just hot tap water.
Instructions
- Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl, and give it a good stir.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mix, and pour the hot water into it.ย
- Using a fork, stir the water around towards the flour until all mixed and blended.
- When the flour mix is cool enough to handle, knead it for about 7-10 until the dough is smooth.
- Put the back in the bowl, and cover it with a tea towel. Leave it to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
- Then knead the dough again for 5 minutes and put it back in to rest for another 20-30 minutes. Repeat this process three times.
- Your dough should now be smooth, pliable and feel elastic. Cut in 6 equal portions, place them in the bowl and cover with the tea towel.
- Get your wooden chopping board and rolling pin ready. Dust the board and the pin with cornflour (cornstarch).
- Take one of the dough balls, cover it with cornflour and start rolling out the dough. You can dust the dough with more cornflour as you keep rolling if you find it sticky. Try rolling out the pastry as thin as possible. I aim at getting it to be 1 mm/ 0.03 inch thick.ย
- Once you feel happy with the thickness of your pastry, cut it in round circle shapes using a cookie cutter. I use a round-cutter with 3.5 inches in diameter.
- Sprinkle more cornflour generously on every cut pastry before you pile them up together. You can wrap them in a cling film and put the wrapping in a ziplock if youโre not going to use them right away.ย
- Continue rolling the pastry until all the dough balls are used.
Notes
- The number of pastries you get from this recipe may vary according to the thickness and the size of the cutter you use. As a reference, I rolled out the pastry at 1 mm/0.03-inch thickness with 3.5 inches in diameter of a cutter, and the recipe yields in 60 sheets.
Related posts
Thank you for reading the post. I hope youโre now intrigued to try making this wonton pastry. I really appreciate it if you can share what you think about this recipe in the comments (leave a reply box) below.
And please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest to sneak a peek at whatโs cooking in my kitchen.
Before you go, donโt forget to check out my other recipes for your ideas and inspiration of what to cook next.
- Pangsit Ayam – Indonesian chicken wontons.
- Sate Ayam – Indonesian chicken satay.
- Gado-gado – Indonesian salad with peanut sauce.
- Ketoprak – vermicelli, tofu and bean sprouts salad with spicy peanut sauce.
- Lontong sayur – vegetable curry in spicy coconut milk with rice cakes.
Thank you and all the best.