Lentil Wontons

This recipe is a keeper. Traditionally wontons and dumplings are made with pork and shrimp so I was worried about the intensities of flavours and the texture. Mushrooms have an earthy flavour and are meaty in texture. They were perfect. Any mushroom would work but sliced button mushrooms were on sale this week. I added wild foraged dried Saskatchewan Matsusake mushrooms. Shitakes would be another good choice. I fully cooked the lentils and they held their shape well. They had a nice firm texture in the finished wonton.

These work equally well as potstickers served with a soy dipping sauce or as wontons in a mushroom broth for a vegetarian version of wonton soup.

This is my entry for the recipe contest with Canadian Lentils. I call it my wild card entry because it doesn't fit into any category. Yes, there is a category for that. Click on this link to find all the entries on Facebook. Remember to 'like' my entry to help me win. Comments are nice, too.

Don't be put off by the number of ingredients. Many are always in your kitchen already. There are a lot of veggies which is a good thing. And like with all recipes, just adapt it to your liking. Skipping water chestnuts, for example, will not make this any less appealing.

 Lentil Wontons

1 tbsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 c. green lentils, cooked
1 oz. dried wild mushrooms
1 lb. button mushrooms, sliced
1 - 227 mL can water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
2 chard leaves, ribs removed chiffonade
1/2 c. yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely shredded
2 tbsp. cornstarch
pinch of white sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice wine
salt and white pepper, to taste
wonton wrappers

Wash lentils and cook in ample water for 30 minutes or 10 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Saute yellow onion in vegetable oil until soft but not browned. Put in a medium sized bowl. In the same pan saute mushrooms until soft. Chop finely in food processor and add to onions in bowl. Meanwhile soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup hot water for 20 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Finely chop. Add wild mushrooms, fresh ginger, green onion, chard, lentils, water chestnuts, carrot and garlic to bowl. Add sesame oil, rice wine, soy sauce, salt, pepper and cornstarch.




Place a scant teaspoon of the mixture on a wonton wrapper and fold as desired. Round or square wonton wraps can be used. Wet the edge of the wrap and pinch the edges together to seal. I had square shaped wraps in my freezer. Makes approximately 50 wontons.


At this point the wontons can be laid on a parchment lined baking sheet and frozen, then stored in a freezer bag or they can used right away.

For potstickers, fry quickly in a hot pan with vegetable oil until browned. Turn over, add water and cover to finish cooking. The dough should shrink around the filling. Serve with dipping sauce.

These can also simply be boiled and served with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce
4 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger

Wonton Soup

Mushroom Stock
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1/2 lb. white mushrooms, sliced
1 oz. dried shitake mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, smashed, skin left on
bouquet garni of thyme, oregano, bay leaf and black peppercorns

Cook all ingredients in a stockpot with 10 cups of water for 45 minutes without the lid. Strain and discard solids. Use stock to make soup with ingredients below.

wontons

2 chard leaves

finely chopped green onions

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

soy sauce, to taste

salt and white pepper, to taste

Season stock with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Add wontons and simmer until tender Add chopped chard leaves to hot stock.  Serve. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.