Of all the different types of dishes, experimenting with Asian cuisine is always my favorite. The different flavor combinations, sauces, and cooking methods have always seemed to lend themselves well to duck and goose meat. Over the past few years, duck wontons have become an absolute hit, whether at a dinner party or at duck camp. They’re simple to make, and they’ll likely be gone once they hit the table.
Although there are other ways to achieve a good fry in your home kitchen, I’ll be using the Loco Cookers 12 QT SureSpark Fryer. I’ve tried plenty of different fry methods at home, from Dutch ovens, woks, cast iron, stock pots, you name it, and I’ve probably tried to fry something in it. Having a dedicated fryer has been a game changer for recipes like this especially when I have the opportunity to cook outside (weather allowing). The Loco Cookers SureSpark is compact and makes quick work of duck wontons, fish, french fries, or whatever you might be whipping up for supper. Alright, enough jabber, time to bust out the fry oil and get to cooking!
Ingredients
- 2-4 duck breasts*
- Green onions (2)
- Minced Ginger
- Chopped Garlic
- Salt & Pepper
- Sesame Oil
- Eggs
- Wontons Wrappers
- Soy Sauce
- Fry Oil
*The number of breasts completely depends on the species of duck. I typically find myself using wigeon or mallard for this recipe. If you use goose breast here, 1 large Canada breast would probably do the trick.
Instructions
1. Start by thawing your duck breasts. Once they’re thawed, mince them very finely, or you could also use a food processor. Just make sure you’re using birds that aren’t overly shot up or pre-cut shot-up breasts to ensure no shot makes it into the food processor or wontons.
2. In a bowl, combine your duck meat with 1 egg, ¼ tsp of sesame oil, ¼ tsp of salt and pepper, ½ tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of crushed garlic, ½ tsp of ginger, and green onions. Mix to combine and set aside to marinate. I usually prep this filling well ahead of time if I’m frying wontons for a crowd. Just make your filling, pop it in the fridge, and pull it out shortly before you want to start frying.
3. Although I’m using exact measurements for some of these ingredients, I typically don’t measure them for this recipe. So feel free to use less or more of the ingredients for the filling above. The best thing you can do is take a small dab of your filling mixture and cook it to make sure you’re where you want to be.
4. Now it’s time to make some wontons. When it comes time to start filling the wonton wrappers, a little will go a long way. Overfilling can be a headache; if you aren’t careful, it can cause your wontons to open up in the fryer.
5. Take a small spoonful of filling and place it in the center of the wrapper. Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper with a whisked egg and fold to close. When making lots of wontons, I opt for speed, so I just go with the traditional triangle fold, but you can fold these however you like.
6. Wonton wrappers like to dry out right out of the package and when they’re folded into wontons. I like to keep the unused wrappers I’m working with under a damp paper towel, and the same goes for the wontons I already have folded that are waiting for the fryer.
7. It’s time to fry. Once I’ve got a good-sized batch (5-8 wontons), it’s time to start getting these bad boys into the oil. I like to fry my wontons at 325F, which should only take a couple of minutes before they turn crispy and golden brown. If you’re not a fan of peanut oil or canola oil, you could use beef tallow or whatever fry oil you like best.
8. If you’re making multiple batches of wontons, you can pop your freshly made wontons in an oven-safe dish lined with paper towels at a low temperature (145-170F) to stay warm while you move on to the next batch. Don’t forget to hit them with a touch of salt before you move on!
9. After your duck wonton batches are complete, it’s time to dig in!
