I’m a big fan of asian food, and as we all know first impressions are very important. That is why I judge most asian restaurants by the one thing you can count on them having on the menu as an appetizer or on the buffet. What is it you ask? Well some call it yakimando, some call it crab rangoon, some call it cream cheese wonton, but whatever you call it they are delicious. I had some wonton wrappers that I picked up at the store and figured I would try to throw a vegan version together. The outcome was more than satisfactory. Make sure you have some sweet chili sauce or soy for dipping.
This recipe makes about 12 wontons so adjust accordingly
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Vegan cream cheese
- 1 tbsp fine chopped onion
- 1 tbsp fine chopped red bell pepper
- 1 tbsp fine chopped zuccini
- 1 tbsp fine chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp fine chopped garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Oil for frying
Okay so first thing heat the olive oil on medium high. When it is good and hot throw everything but the cream cheese in there. If you put a nice small dice on all those veggies they should cook up in about a minute. Once they are done transfer them to a small bowl. Add the cream cheese and mix well.
Heat frying oil to between medium and medium high. Make sure you use enough to fully immerse your wonton in oil.
Depending on what size wonton wrapper you get you probably wont be able to fit much of the filling in each one. I used about a half a tsp in each. Just place whatever portion of the filling you choose into the wrapper.
Now here comes the tricky part, no matter what shape you want your wontons to come out you have to make sure you pinch the edges together really well so they dont open up and spill all that tasty filling into your frying oil. You can simply fold it in half and press down on the edges with a fork to seal them if you want to keep it simple. I tried to make mine look like they do at the restaurants but i was using round wontons so they aren’t exactly right, the important thing is that they are sealed.
Once you start dropping them in keep your eyes on them they cook in about thirty seconds to a minute depending on the temp of your oil. when they start to turn ligh brown they are done. Remove them from the oil and place them on a plate with a paper towel to drain the oil. Sprinkle with salt.
Also if you have a few leftover wrappers cut them into strips and fry them up as wonton chips, very tasty. be careful these guys fry up in about 10 to 20 seconds.
There you have it vegan cheeze wontons and wonton chips.
