hybrid wontons
April 2, 2003 09:57 PM

These wontons are a mix of two or three different semi-traditional recipes I learned from my friends' multiracial families when I was a kid. The meat filling is a Latin take on the filling for Filipino lumpia.

Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef, 1/2 a small cabbage, 1 lunch-sized package of baby carrots, package of 50 wonton wrappers, whatever's in your spice collection, liberal doses of soy sauce. You can substitute extra cabbage or 2 boiled, chopped up potatoes for a vegetarian version.

Brown the meat. While cooking, throw in appalling quantities of soy sauce, red wine, and the herbs of your choice. I use pepper, garlic, ginger & sesame seeds, but anything vaguely Latin or Asian would work.

Chop up the carrots and cabbage very finely, then toss them in with the meat, too. Add more of your liquids and seasonings. Cook until the cabbage is translucent but still slightly crispy.

Let the mixture cool, then fill wontons. I generally gather the wonton wrappers (think of those little origami "fortune tellers" from grade school) instead of folding them, since that makes for more full dumplings. Deep fry.

I often serve this with a cold sauce made by combining 2 parts soy sauce to 1/2 part lime juice and 1/2 part good (balsamic or rice) vinegar.