What are those fried crunchy things?

[Constance]

We were eating in a Chinese restaurant the other day, and I saw something I've seen often before...fried, crispy things served in a bowl like chips. Does anyone know what they're called?

[PytnPlace]

Sounds like fried noodles. A local spot we go to serves little bowls of fried noodles. They are a little wide.

[Constance]

No, these are squares, like dumplings, and real flakey looking.

[QSis]

If they looked like crumpled up squares of tan paper, they were fried wontons.

Absolutely delicious, especially if they are warm!

Lee

[attie]

Originally Posted by Constance

No, these are squares, like dumplings, and real flakey looking.

Cocktail or mini dim-sims [dim-sums to you] ??

[Constance]

Originally Posted by QSis

If they looked like crumpled up squares of tan paper, they were fried wontons.

Absolutely delicious, especially if they are warm!

Lee

That's exactly what they looked like! Thanks, Lee. They didn't have them listed on the lunch menu...guess you just have to know what to order. Next time, I'm getting some!

[kadesma]

Hi Connie,
they are the fried wontons, we also order a side or sweet and sour sauce to dunk them in..The little guys love them and so do I But not today Picked up a bug from Olivia's baby sitter and feel yutzy.


kadesma

[Chopstix]

The others are indeed right. They're deep-fried wonton wrappers. Great on congee for the crunch. I've seen these on top of the roast duck pizza of California Pizza Kitchen. Boy, while the added crunch was great, the roof of my mouth was still raw two days after having this pizza!

[YT2095]

the ones similar and slightly larger and tied with the green of a spring onion are called Beggars Purses.

[middie]

We don't have fried wontons here. They serve shrimp chips.
The wontons sound so much better to me.

[Claire]

The fried wontons you just snack on are usually unfilled. You can get them filled with meat or with cream cheese & crab (crab rangoon on the menu), which cracks me up because it is so American (most Asians do not eat dairy products!). Oh, boo hoo. Our only Chinese restaurant closed this year. One thing about won tons is that they are super easy to make. You can also steam them or boil 2 or 3 per person in broth and serve as soup (garnish with whatever fresh herb you have on hand. Oh, fresh herbs aren't happening for another couple of months. Oh well). I buy the wrappers and fill with a sort of generic stuffing of ground turkey, finely chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic. Some get deep fried, some get fried potsticker style, some go into the freezer. Because I don't use a particularly Asian flavor I can also use them as pierogi/ravioli. Different treatments yeild completely different results depending on how I treat them when I cook them or what dipping sauces I serve with them. The pastry (usually labelled as "won ton wrappers") can be found in the refridgerated portion of the fresh produce section of your grocery store.

[Candocook]

You can get them--or an approximation of them--in the supermarket. They are in cellophane as chow mein noodles. They aren't the skinny ones, but are a little wider.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Interesting note; most people throughout the world hae problems digesting dairy products. Teh people who tolerate them best have a family line coming from Northern Europe. It seems that due to the cold weather, which of course means limited availability of sun exposure, got nutrients that the body manufactures using sunlight from drinking or eating dairy porducts. This is especially true of liquid dairy products such as milk and cream. I'm very glad that I have German, and some French in me, along with the native American as I truly love milk and other dairy products.

But back on topic, won ton wrappers can be fried and dipped like a chip in various sauces such as duck sauce, oyster sauce, plumb sauce, sweet & sour sauce, etc. They are also good dipped in shrimp cocktail sauce. I sometimes will mix together powdered mustard and ordinary ketchup to make a dipping sauce.

Or, if you prefer, you can make a number of cream-cheese, or sour cream based dips to serve with them. They are a great garnish, and are easy to make at home. But truthfully, I prefer to stuff my wontons with meat and veggies, then fried until golden and served with pineapple sweet & sour sauce. I also love to make won ton soup by boiling the filled wontons in a light chicken broth with some fresh green onion or chives. Yum.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North