I have just recently discovered the wonders of wonton wrappers. These small squares of thin dough can be found in the produce section, along with other Asian-style appetizer wraps. I suppose one day I should actually venture to attempt to make wonton soup, but I have just been experimenting with appetizers for my family to enjoy.

My first concoction was created especially for Taco Night at my parent’s house.  For my Mexican Wontons, I combined black beans, corn, scallions, red bell pepper and spices (fresh cilantro, garlic, salt and lime juice). I added a little shredded cheese and a few dollops of plain yogurt to add to the creaminess of it. I put a bit in a center of a wonton and just folded them into small triangles. I wet the edges so that they would stick, and then brushed them with a little egg white before putting them in the oven. They were baked for about 20 minutes or less, until they were brown around the edges. My mom’s newly discovered affection for sour cream gave these an instantly successful dipping sauce.  However, I think they would pair better with a creamier dip or a salsa verde for a kick.

My second version of wonton wackiness ended up an even bigger success, and really addressed some of the original issues I had with the first round. For Thanksgiving, my mom requested Crab Wontons for an appetizer. I have no idea where she came up with this, but it sounded interesting enough for me to try. I looked up a bunch of stuff online and came up with a simple mixture I thought I could work with.

Using about 6 to 8 ounces of crab, 8 ounces of cream cheese, scallions, and spices (garlic, salt and a little Old Bay), I mixed together a very boring looking filling that had everyone wondering “what the heck is this girl going to make us eat now.” Have faith, I assured them, having every confidence in the world that there would be enough other food at Thanksgiving to satisfy the hungry crowd should these turn out to taste as bland as they were looking. Knowing most of my family members are extremely sensitive to spicy foods, I threw in a couple dashes of hot sauce and another teaspoon of Old Bay before putting the mixture in the fridge.

The next morning, I got out a large tray and my wonton wrappers and went to work while sipping down my Bloody Mary. (I’m a firm believer that one should stick to a liquid breakfast when facing an afternoon food marathon. Only food products that can garnish your beverage are acceptable (i.e.: celery, pickles and olives). Any food that is eaten solely for “tasting” purposes does not count (and is also negate of any calories or fat content, since it is simply a “taste”).)

Anyhow – this time, I used an exact teaspoon as my scoop. After putting this tiny scoop into the middle of the wonton, I folded it into a triangle, but then took the two ends on the bottom and folded them so that they touched the point at the top. I used a little water to make the edges stick. (I ended up using all but about 15 wrappers, and my sister actually made a little apple/cinnamon/sugar mixture to put in these for a breakfast treat. Pretty tasty – although borderline against my liquid breakfast rules. However, since it was a new entry in my wonton wackiness experiment, it definitely counted as a “taste” and therefore didn’t actually count at all.)

Around wine-time, I pulled my Crab-ton Craziness (still working on the name) out of the fridge, heated a little canola oil in a non-stick pan and fried them on each side until nice and brown. I let them dry a bit on a paper-towel lined plate before transferring them to the serving platter. My hubby chose this mango-chili dipping sauce at the grocery store to pair with the crab-tons. All other apps were ignored once these hit the table. The hungry mob devoured these tasty bites, and raved about the sauce.

Lessons learned on these trial runs with wonton wrappers:

1)    A little filling goes a long way in these little guys. A teaspoon is the perfect amount.

2)     The triangle-shape looks nice, but left the baked wontons doughy in the middle and dry and crunchy on the edges. I think baking is still an option, but I would fold in the edges to prevent uneven cooking.

3)    The Mexican Madness Wontons would have probably been better if I put the bean mixture into a food processor for a couple pulses. It was hard to get a little bit of every ingredient into the wrapper without overfilling, so mixing it up would help.

4)    Definitely make sure the edges are sealed all the way or else your filling will seep out when you bake or fry it.