Wonton is a traditional Chinese food originating from northern China.

"Dialect" written by Yang Xiong of the Western Han Dynasty mentioned: "Wonton is called wonton". Wonton is a kind of cake. The difference is that wonton is filled with stuffing and eaten after steaming; if it is cooked with soup, it is called "soup cake".

The ancient Chinese believed that this was a sealed bun without seven orifices, so it was called "hunton". According to the rules of Chinese character creation, it was later called "wonton".

At this point, there is no difference between wontons and dumplings.

Dumplings have not changed significantly over thousands of years, but wontons have been developed in the south and have an independent style.

Starting from the Tang Dynasty, the names of wontons and dumplings were officially distinguished.

Characteristics of wontons 1. Compare wontons and dumplings. Wonton wrappers are squares with a side of about 6 cm, or an isosceles trapezoid with a top side of about 5 cm and a base of about 7 cm. Dumpling wrappers are round with a diameter of about 7 cm.

shape.

2. The wonton skin is thin and becomes transparent after cooking.

Because of this difference in thickness, equal amounts of wontons and dumplings are boiled in boiling water. It takes less time to cook the wontons. In the process of cooking the dumplings, cold water needs to be added three times, and the so-called "three sinks and three floats" can be ensured to be cooked.

3. Wontons focus on soup, while dumplings focus on dipping.

The names in various places include Beijing and Shanghai: Northern China and other places are usually called wontons.

Guangdong: Due to different accents, it is called wonton along with the sound of "wonton".

The British name "wonton" is originally from Cantonese.

Fujian: Commonly known as Bianshi, and a few people call it Bianrou. The meat filling is usually beaten with a mallet. Sichuan: Commonly known as Chaoshou. Sichuan people are fond of spicy food. There is a famous dish called "Red Oil Chaoshou".

Hubei: Commonly known as wontons, some people also call them dumplings.

Jiangxi: Commonly known as clear soup.

Japan: It comes from northern China, and is called "ワンタン" (wantan) along its pronunciation; it is written as "yunxi" or "wonton".

Taiwan: It is called Bianshi in Hokkien.

Around 1949, immigrants from all over China brought the names of their hometowns to Taiwan. Therefore, wontons, wontons, flat food, or "chaoshou" are all very common in Taiwan.

Common fillings: pork, shrimp, vegetables, green onions, and ginger constitute the most basic filling choices.

Large vegetable and meat wontons and fresh meat small wontons were once the basic options in Shanghai snack bars.

Wuxi Three Fresh Wontons, which originated from Dongting, Wuxi, are filled with fresh pork, Kaiyang, and pickled mustard.

Changzhou Three Fresh Wontons are stuffed with fresh pork, shrimp and herring meat.

The combination of pork, aquatic products, dry goods and pickles also inspired future filling innovations.

Since the 1990s, several chain-operated wonton shops have appeared in Shanghai, offering both dine-in and take-out services.

In the menu, various kinds of pickles, meat and vegetables, fresh meat and vegetables, and dry goods from the north and south are included in the fillings. The variety of wonton fillings has also been greatly enriched and improved, such as lotus root and barbecued pork, bacon and yam, bacon and three mushrooms.

, snow pea fresh meat, crispy duck with egg yolk, cantaloupe fresh meat, whitebait egg yolk, bug meat, oyster mushroom and shrimp, pine nut and corn meat and other fresh combinations appear.

Beef, snail meat, chicken, various fish and other aquatic products, fresh vegetables and fruits, various soy products, etc. are all fresh products to choose from.

Among the dry goods, kaiyang, scallops, mushrooms, sausages, salted fish, bacon, and pickles can also be stuffed.

Among pickles, pickles, kohlrabi and dried radish are particularly popular.

A common soup in Jiangnan, the relationship between wontons and soup is like fish and water.

Chicken soup and meat bone soup are the best choices for soup base.

However, most stores only add seasonings and seaweed to boiling water.

Common soup ingredients include shredded egg skin, shredded mustard, dried shrimps, quail eggs, and chopped green onion.

The filling method is because the wonton skin is thin and is not suitable for wrapping large particles of ingredients, so most of the ingredients need to be chopped; but for aesthetic reasons, the shrimps are usually only peeled and not chopped.

In addition to chopping, another manual method is "smashing", which is often used for flat food.

But the most common way is to use mechanical grinding.

Common shapes: round, cylindrical, semicircular (similar to dumplings), rectangular (folded in half), triangular (folded diagonally). Common types of fresh meat wontons: mince the pork and green onions, stir them, and wrap them in wonton wrappers.

Cooking is the most basic method.

Shrimp wontons: Guangdong is rich in seafood, and shrimp and pork are often used as ingredients.

Shrimp wontons: made from minced shrimp and pork.

Vegetable and meat wontons: pork with shredded Qingjiang vegetables, usually larger in size, also known as "vegetable and meat wontons".

Red Oil Chaoshou: Fresh meat wontons are usually eaten with a sauce based on chili oil. It is a unique Sichuan cuisine.

Wonton noodles: cooked with wontons, noodles and soup.

(See: Wonton Noodles) Fried Wontons: Cooked in deep frying.

Desserts: Small pieces of rice cake, honey cake, cheese or fruit are wrapped in wonton wrappers and fried.

Cross-Cultural Echo Tortellini/Tortelloni in Italian pasta are very similar in shape and wrapping method to wontons in southern China. Apart from the different dough recipes, the main difference lies in the fillings.