Call me an optimist. Every time I'm standing over the sink, scraping dried tomato sauce off a pan or scrubbing food coloring off my hands ("It was a very important experiment!) or picking broken glass out of my freezer ("I wanted to see what would happen if I froze it"), I entertain idyllic visions of us side-by-side in the kitchen - probably wearing matching aprons - lovingly creating beautiful meals together.
I know, right? It took me a while to type that, I was laughing so hard. Also my dream kitchen includes a lot more counter space.
But there is a serious upside to all this: she's getting to be a hella sous chef. (She would probably be even better at it if I didn't forget how to use nouns when I'm under pressure; pointing and flapping only goes so far.) And she made 10 dozen wontons with pretty much no help at all from me.
Had I been making these, there would have been many fewer wontons to serve to guests. I would have been fussing back and forth between the table and the kitchen and a bunch of the wrappers would have gotten dried out and thrown away. My back would ache and I'd be all freaked out about the other things that weren't getting done. Possibly the filling would have been served as a dip instead.
Don't let this deter you - making a normal number of these for a normal number of guests is totally reasonable. A lot of my kitchen-related stress comes from the fact that all my events seem to involve quadrupling recipes. Should you choose to do so yourself, I highly recommend recruiting some helpers.
Now my idyllic visions revolve around all the other tedious and time-consuming tasks I can foist off on her. I'm thinking grapeleaves and meatballs and risotto and egg rolls and batches of teeny-tiny little cookies and.....
As with the rest of the event menu, this recipe is taken from 100 Perfect Pairings by Jill Silverman Hough. If you're looking for a GF variation, serve this as a dip with some rice crackers and drizzle the dipping sauce over the top (be sure to use GF soy sauce).
Edamame Wontons with Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce
2 cups shelled edamame
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
6 tablespoons aji-mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
36 ROUND wonton wrappers
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
Safflower, sunflower, peanut, or other high-heat cooking oil
Set 1/2 cup of the edamame aside. Combine the remaining edamame, lemon juice, cilantro, and 1/4 cup of the aji-mirin in a food processor and process until it forms a chunky paste. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the rest of the edamame and all but 1 teaspoon of the scallions.
Arrange 6 wonton wrappers on a work surface and cover the remaining wrappers with a towel. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the edamame mixture onto the bottom third of the wrapper, moisten the edges with a little water, and fold the wrapper over the filling. Press the edges to seal. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick skillet. Working in batches, fry the wontons until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. (You can also boil them in well-salted water for about 2 minutes).
To make the dipping sauce: Combine the soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and remaining 2 tablespoons of aji-mirin. Serve in individual small bowls and garnish with the reserved scallions.
About the wine: I served this with Bel Lago 2015 Riesling, which is a personal favorite. People tend to think that Riesling is too sweet, but there are plenty of dry and off-dry Rieslings out there as well. This particular one is a Goldilocks wine - not too dry, not too sweet, with lots of green apple and stone fruit on the palate and nice minerality in the finish. It brings out that little touch of sweetness in the dipping sauce; the acidity cuts through the richness of the sesame oil; and it's light enough that it doesn't overwhelm the edamame.
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