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Pan-Fried Wontons with Blue Cheese and Fresh Pear

I spent most of my life thinking that dumplings or wontons were impossible to make at home. It turns out that you can buy the thin wonton pasta wrappers in the frozen section of most Asian grocery stores, giving you the flexibility to make incredibly cheap wontons at home using whatever unique ingredients you want for the fillings!
It’s a great way to spend a rainy afternoon, and you can freeze any extra wontons that you don’t want to cook right away. I know some families that make hundreds of wontons one day every month, and freeze 90% of them for quick meals throughout the coming weeks. They keep their dumplings well-labeled, ensuring they have a variety to choose from whenever they want.
The following recipe makes roughly 30 wontons.

Ingredients

  • 2 pears (peeled, cored, and cut small dice)
  • 1 Tbsp sake
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp mirin
  • 16 oz 1 lb gorgonzola or blue cheese of preference
  • 30 wonton wrappers
  • 3 Tbsp sunflower seed oil (for pan-frying the wontons)

Instructions 

  • Combine the diced pears with the sake, honey, and mirin mixture.
  • Add a few pieces of the diced pear into the center of a wonton wrapper, along with a small piece of blue cheese.
  • *Avoid overfilling the wontons at this stage, as they are more likely to burst open while cooking and are more difficult to seal.
  • Use water on the tips of your fingers to wet the outside edge of the wonton wrapper.
  • Seal the edges of the wonton wrapper by pressing the edges firmly together with the tips of your fingers, making sure the gently press out any air that is surrounding the filling.
  • Repeat the process until you have run out of pears and blue cheese.
  • When your wontons are filled, you can pan-fry them in a nonstick pan with some sunflower seed over medium-high heat.
  • When the wontons are golden-brown, I like to (carefully) add a spoonful of water and immediately cover with a tight-fitting lid, allowing the wontons to steam for a minute or two before taking them off the heat and serving them.

Notes

If you want, you can boil these wontons in water or a flavorful broth, and serve them cooked that way. Alternatively, if you are looking for the ultimate crispy wonton, you can deep-fry them submerged in hot oil!
Like many dishes in the kitchen, these wontons are best eaten while they are still hot.