Simone leafed through her cookbooks this afternoon telling me she was itching to cook something. Instead of dessert, she picked wontons, and it turned out that we had a bunch of ingredients ready to go. The rest we bought today. This is a completely kid-friendly operation–low on fat, and fun to make as dinner stretches out. As one batch comes out, you can start eating and anticipate the next batch.

Our recipe (reproduced here) is adapted from Kitchen for Kids, a cookbook given to my daughter back in 2005.

Ingredients

2 green onions

6 oz. of uncooked pork or chicken (we used veal because that was all the grocers had)

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp garlic salt

pinch of of pepper

1 large egg white

6 cups of cooking water to cook the wantons

wonton wrappers (I had NO idea where to look for these, but at our grocery store they were kept in the produce aisle in a refrigerated area. Coulda fooled me. We also looked for them in the pasta aisle–they are strikingly similar–but no go there. So my advice is to ask.)

Makes 16 wontons

Directions

Mix the green onion, ground meat, soy sauce, oil, garlic salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Put the egg white in a small bowl and beat it briefly.

Heat the cooking water on high. As soon as it boils, turn it down to medium.

Cut open your package of wonton wrappers. Ready a nice clean surface to make the wontons. We used a medium-sized cutting board. Lay one wonton flat. Place a spoonful of meat mixture on the wonton. Brush (with a pastry brush or your fingers) the egg white around the meat and all around the perimeter of the wonton. Place another wonton on top. Press the top wonton down while crimping the edges together and pressing out any bubbles. (The egg white is acting as a glue.) Make sure the edges are sealed by running your finger all around and pressing down. Set the wonton aside.

NOTE: I soon realized Simone’s cookbook recommended using two wontons because it’s simpler to line up the corners and easier for kids to handle. You can skip the second wonton by folding one wonton into a triangle. Squeeze the edges as usual. This is the more classic dish; the double-wonton version has a little too much wonton-to-meat ratio! However, your child may find the Kitchen for Kids version easier.

Once you have five or six wontons to go, place them in the simmering water for 10 minutes. Repeat in batches of five or six (three batches). Once they’re done, remove with a slotted spoon or skimmer.

Eat as you go and enjoy! We loved them. Simone had eaten homemade wontons already at a friend’s house and declared them just as wonderful.