Monday, February 4, 2013

Sweet Potato and Shiitake Mushroom Wontons

The labbits are still enjoying having special Guest Chef Jimmy with them in the warren. Tonight, Chef Jimmy wanted to make some steamed wontons, and he decided he would stuff them with sweet potato and...oh, how about shiitake mushrooms? Pipkin assisted in the kitchen and loved making these tasty wontons. Where does Jimmy come up with these flavor combinations? (Mostly by picking blindly in the refrigerator.) Print out the recipe for these wontons here.

Little wontons all in a row - ready for the steam basket!
Sweet Potato and Shiitake Mushroom Wontons




Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
1/2 cup Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 or 3 stalks scallions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic (Jimmy forgot to photograph the garlic, whoops)
White pepper
Salt
Wonton wrappers
Preparation:
Chef Jimmy doesn't think it's all that practical to heat up an oven just for one potato, so he's going to microwave his potato. In less time than it takes to pre-heat the oven, you can cook a potato in the microwave. So grab your sweet potato, poke a bunch of holes in it with a fork, and throw it in the microwave for 6 or 7 minutes, until you can pierce it through with a fork and it is soft.


Meanwhile, chop your shiitake mushrooms, and finely chop the scallions and garlic. Saute the garlic for a minute, then add the mushrooms and saute until they soften and release their juices. Set aside in a medium bowl.


Let your potato cool a little, then peel the skin and discard. Toss your potato into a bowl and mash. (Jimmy calls it the Monster Mash *groan*) Add the mushrooms, garlic and scallions and stir to mix. Add in a little salt and white pepper and give it a final good mix.

Scoop a ball of the potato mixture into the center of a wonton wrapper. If you like wonton triangles, fold the wrapper in half, wet a finger with some water, and seal the edges. Jimmy want his to look kind of like shumai, so he's going make a soft fist and wrap the edges up around the filling. Easy, quick, and looks kinda cool!
Fill a large pot with an inch of water and fit in your steamer basket. Once the water's near boiling, turn the heat on low-medium. You want steam, but you don't need the water at a hard boil. Steam the wontons in the steamer basket in batches, if necessary, making sure the wontons don't touch eachother in the basket. Steam 15 minutes or until the wrappers are soft and translucent.

Remove wontons from steamer basket and enjoy as an appetizer, as part of a dim sum spread, or in a soup with noodles (for wonton noodle soup you will want to make folded and sealed triangle wontons so the wonton don't fall apart in the soup).

Yield: About 16 wontons

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