Description
Learn how to make homemade wonton wrappers from scratch using simple ingredients like bread flour and water. These homemade wrappers are chewy, thin, and perfect for crafting fresh wontons with your favorite fillings. This detailed guide walks you through kneading, resting, rolling, cutting, and cooking the wrappers, ensuring a perfect texture every time.
Ingredients
Wonton Wrapper Dough
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour (high gluten flour recommended for chewy texture; all-purpose flour can be substituted)
- 1 cup tepid water
- Cornstarch (for dusting)
Instructions
- Mix Dough: Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the tepid water to the flour and mix vigorously with a rubber spatula until the mixture looks shaggy. Knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes until it becomes lumpy but relatively cohesive. Place the dough on the counter and cover with an overturned bowl, letting it rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. This resting period allows the gluten to relax, making the dough easier to roll.
- Divide Dough: After resting, the dough will be pliable and smoother. Divide it into four equal quarters. Work with one quarter at a time, keeping the others covered with the bowl to prevent drying out.
- Pre-Roll Preparation: Take a quarter of dough and flatten it into a rough rectangle with your hands. Roll it slightly with a rolling pin just enough to thin it to fit into a pasta roller. Stretch and shape the dough to maintain a rectangular form. Dust both sides thoroughly with cornstarch to prevent sticking during rolling.
- Roll Dough Sheets: Pass the dough through a pasta roller starting at its thickest setting, gradually progressing through thinner settings until the dough is nearly paper-thin (typically the second to last setting). Cut the dough in half crosswise if it becomes too long to handle easily. Dust each side of the rolled sheets again with cornstarch to avoid sticking.
- Cut Wrappers: Trim the edges of the dough sheets with a knife to get straight lines. Cut the dough into squares approximately 3½ to 4 inches (9-10 cm) wide to form individual wonton wrappers. Prepare wrappers as you go to keep them fresh.
- Assemble and Seal: Use water to moisten the edges of the wrappers to seal the wontons after filling them with your desired stuffing. It’s best to assemble wontons immediately after making the wrappers to prevent drying and cracking.
- Cook Wontons: Drop the assembled wontons into boiling water while stirring gently to prevent sticking. Boil for 5-6 minutes, adding cold water whenever the water returns to a vigorous boil. This intermittent addition of cold water helps the filling cook evenly without overcooking the delicate wrapper.
Notes
- Freezing: Assemble wontons and freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a tight-sealing container or ziplock bag. Cook from frozen, adding a minute or two to boiling time.
- Flour choice impacts texture: bread flour makes for chewier wrappers, while all-purpose flour yields a softer wrapper.
- Dusting with cornstarch is essential to prevent sticking during rolling and cutting.
- Resting the dough helps develop gluten, making rolling easier and the texture better.
- Adjust the thickness on the pasta roller according to your preference, but too thin can cause tearing during assembly.
