In traditional Chinese cuisine, wontons are loved by diners for their thin skin, tender filling, mellow and delicious soup. The key to creating an evocative bowl of wontons is to create a tender, juicy, and textured meat filling. Below, I will explain in detail how to prepare the tender wonton filling from the perspective of a star chef.
First, the selection of materials is very important
First of all, high-quality raw materials are the basis for ensuring the tenderness of the wonton meat filling. It is better to choose fresh pork hind leg or pork belly, which is firm and has the right amount of fat and lean ratio to ensure that the filling is tender and not too greasy. At the same time, the freshness of the meat directly affects the final taste, so it is important to choose fresh pork with bright red color, tight texture and no peculiar smell.
2. Fine chopping
After washing and draining the pork, cut it into small pieces by hand, and then pat it carefully with the back of a knife to break the muscle fibers moderately, which helps the meat filling to stay tender after cooking. Then, slowly chop into a delicate minced meat, taking care not to over-chop it, and retain a certain graininess to make the wontons taste more chewy.
3. Seasoning and stirring
Add moisture: Add a little ginger water to the minced meat (the juice squeezed out of the ginger minced meat) to not only remove the smell and increase the flavor, but also allow the minced meat to fully absorb water and increase tenderness. For every 500 grams of minced meat, you can add 2-3 tablespoons of ginger water, stirring in one direction while adding to make the minced meat fully absorb water and produce stickiness.
Season to taste: Add salt, white pepper, chicken essence or stock essence and other basic seasonings to taste, or add a small amount of sugar and light soy sauce to taste. Be careful to add it in batches, stirring well each time to ensure that the flavor penetrates every inch of minced meat.
The secret to freshness and tenderness: To further enhance the tenderness of the minced meat, add an egg white and an appropriate amount of starch (corn starch or potato starch) during the stirring process. Egg whites are rich in protein and have a good water retention effectThe starch forms a protective film during cooking, locking in moisture in the meat filling and making it more tender.
Let sit to tasteFinally, put the seasoned meat filling in the refrigerator and let it stand for more than half an hour, so that the meat filling can fully absorb the flavor of the seasoning, and also allow the starch to work better, making the meat filling firmer and more elastic.
The wonton meat filling carefully prepared through the above steps is not only delicious and tender, but also has a rich layering and full taste. Simply wrap it in a wonton wrapper as thin as a cicada's wing, and after being baptized with hot water, it can become a steaming bowl of delicious wontons full of homely warmth and the smell of fireworks.