Homemade Deep-Fried Cream Cheese Wontons

During quarantine this spring I tried out a few new recipes. Craving an unavailable Chinese supper from a local restaurant one night, I soon found myself in the kitchen attempting to make homemade wontons to satisfy my cravings. After a few attempts of trying to remember by taste I landed on this recipe – enjoy!

Preparation:

Prep time: 10 minutes

Fry time: 5 minutes Total time:

15 minutes (for one set of 6 wontons)

Makes 24 wontons

Ingredients List:

Vegetable oil – 2.5 cups (may vary)

Wonton wraps – 24 wraps

Cream cheese – 8 Ounces

Garlic (minced) – 1 Tablespoon

Onion powder – 1/2 Teaspoon

Chives (chopped) – 1 Tablespoon

Materials List:

Thermometer

Pastry brush

1 Medium-sized pot

1 Small bowl

1 Medium-sized bowl

1 Large-slotted spoon

1 Wire cooling rack

2 Cookie sheets

Fill a medium sized pot with enough vegetable oil to cover the pan 2 inches deep (roughly 2.5 cups, depending on the size of pan). Heat oil to 350 degrees over medium high heat.

Tips:

#1) It is important to keep the oil from getting too hot as it will affect cooking time. The oil temperature should be monitored with a kitchen thermometer.

#2) It is essential that there is enough oil to completely cover the wontons when they are submerged in the oil. This may differ from the 2.5 cups mentioned in the ingredients list above.

While the oil is heating, place six wonton wraps on a cookie sheet. Fill the small bowl with room temperature water. Dip the pastry brush in the water and dampen the perimeter of each wonton wrapper. The wonton wrappers need to be damp, so they stick together when folding.

Tip:

I like to prepare four separate batches of five-six wontons at a time so all of them fit in the pot and can be fried at once.

In the medium-sized bowl, mix together the cream cheese, garlic, onion powder, and chives until well combined.

Spoon one tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into the center of each wonton wrapper. Try to avoid overfilling to ensure they stay sealed when placed in the hot oil!

Fold wontons by bringing each corner to the center and pinching together firmly. Once the corners are all touching in the center, pinch along the seams on the sides to ensure the wrapper is completely sealed.

Tip:

After folding, the sides of the wontons should be standing upright. They should not be flat. From a top view, the sides should form an “X”.

Gently place five-six wontons into the 350-degree oil. Fry for about 3 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until they reach a desired golden color.

While the wontons are frying, place a wire rack over the last cookie sheet so it resembles this setup. This allows the excess oil to drip off the wontons as they are removed from the oil and keeps them crisp.

Remove wontons from the oil with a large slotted spoon once they reach a golden color (see picture). Place on the wire rack and cool for five minutes.

Pictured is the finished product with my favorite condiment for this yummy snack – soy sauce! Simply drizzle soy sauce over the wontons until you’ve reached your desired amount. Sweet and sour sauce is also commonly used for dipping.