Well Cheap Wontons

Here at Austerilicious we really value immigration. Not only does the movement of people enable us foreigners to steal scarce British jobs and cripple the NHS, the completely rational discourse surrounding it has led to the rise of such charming comedy political parties such as the BNP and UKIP. It’s also provided our most favourite politician Theresa May with ample opportunity to do what she does best- to trample the human rights of impoverished migrants and asylum seekers. What could be a better contribution to modern British society than reactionary politics you ask? Well dear friends, we would dare to say that we may have found the answer: wontons.

The humble wonton is a wonderful thing (unless of course you’re kosher or so xenophobic that even ‘ethnic food’ is a frightening betrayal of Britain). Not only do they provide much needed protein, they also thrillingly represent fantastic value for money when you use them right. This Chinese import ticks all our boxes- they’re frugal comfort food and people think you’re well fancy when you serve them. They also represent a clever way to stretch shellfish, an ingredient that quickly becomes a luxury when you’re on a budget.

The following recipe made me 60 of these wonders, and while we ate them mostly deep fried at a dinner party for a dear friend we could easily have stretched them and incorporated them into several different dishes. Wontons are wonderfully versatile and can provide a great accompaniment to a main course, be a wonderful starter, and be the star of a frugal home-made ramen. We would suggest freezing in groups of six for up to one month.

In case you’re not convinced I made the following wonton ramen soup for less than 60p by making a pack of ramen from our favourite local asian supermarket, adding shredded ginger, julienne carrot sticks, alongside wontons and spinach pilfered from my unsuspecting flatmate. Soz about that P!

Ingredients:
300 grams minced pork (we suggest full fat because it tastes way better)
200 grams peeled deveined prawns diced
2 medium sized shallots chopped finely
1 spring onion chopped finely
3 tablespoons shredded ginger
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine (sherry would probably work too)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon demara sugar
Dash of both salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten well
60 wonton wrappers
1 teaspoon ground arrowroot (cornstarch would probably be preferable but we couldn’t find any)

Method

Step 1: Combine pork and prawns in a large bowl. Kneed together with your hands (or use a spoon if you prefer). Combine the shallots, spring onion, ginger, rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper with the meat and mix well.

Step 2: Identify a wrapping station and set out a plate with your wonton wrappers, a small bowl with the ground arrowroot, another bowl with the beaten eggs and a baking tray small enough to fit into your freezer but large enough to position about 60 wontons without them touching. Dust the baking tray with arrowroot.

Step 3: Fill and wrap the wontons in the following way: first brush a small amount of egg mixture onto the wonton wrapper. Then make a small ball with the wonton filling mixture and place in the centre. Pinch the edges of the wrapper around it to seal it shut and place on the tray, making sure that it has enough of the ground arrowroot to keep it from sticking. Repeat until no more wonton ingredients remain. Place the baking tray in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm them up.

Step 4: Remove wontons from the freezer. Identify how many you would like to scoff immediately (10 seemed reasonable at the time), then freeze the remaining dumplings in batches for ease of use. Wontons can either be steamed, fried or boiled in soup. If steamed or fried they’re great with a mixture of soy sauce, ginger and green onion or sweet chilli sauce.

Frugality measure: A batch of 60 wantons cost us £8.52, which means a serving of 6 is £0.85 and each wonton comes in at about £0.15. If you were to eat them all in one sitting, that wouldn’t be particularly cheap, but what’s wonderful with this recipe is that they really keep and you can whip them out whenever you fancy. If you put them into other asian dishes or alongside them, then they can really feel like a luxury.