Shrimp Wontons

Hanukkah starts tonight.
Generally, we kick off the eight days with candle lighting and latkes. This morning I realized I have no potatoes in the house and an icy walk really doesn't appeal right now. So, instead of frying up latkes we decided to fry up our wontons.
Wontons are one of my favorite foods. I love wonton soup, velvety noodle bags floating in rich chicken broth. I also love them fried as a snack. Wontons are the perfect snowy day project food, they aren't hard, but they take some time to fold into the little bags.
You can put almost anything you like into wontons. I like a mix of shrimp, ground meat, crunchy veggies and a heavy dose of toasted sesame oil.

This recipe is 100% shrimp, but feel free to substitute half a pound of ground pork, chicken or turkey for a 1/2 pound of the shrimp.

Shrimp Wontons
3 garlic cloves
1 lb salad shrimp, divided
4 chopped green onions
1 inch knob ginger peeled and chopped finely
2 cups finely chapped napa cabbage
1 5oz can chopped water chestnuts (if not chopped finely throw in the food processor for 2-3 seconds.)
1/4 cup soy sauce - or more to taste
1 T toasted sesame oil
Few hearty twists of fresh ground pepper
1 T rice wine or sake
1 T chopped cilantro leaves

1 package wonton wrappers

In a small food processor blend the garlic and 1/2 of the salad shrimp until it creates a paste. In a large bowl mix the rest of the ingredients. Use your hands to mix it all up into a uniform mess.

To make the wontons:

Put about 1 teaspoon of the mix on a corner of the wonton. Dip your fingers into warm water and trace the edges with water.











Fold and press the edges tightly together.













Then pinch the corners together to make the wonton.