Taco Wontons, Game 2

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on June 7, 2010 in Appetizers, Beef, Blog, Chinese Cuisine Favorites, Family Favorites, International, Japanese Cuisine Favorites, Lakers, Turkey | 17 comments

This weekend I overindulged in food, some of it was really bad for me – like the Hamburger Doritos and fried wontons. Saturday night we celebrated three of my best girlfriends’ birthdays and we ate crab and temaki sushi.  I love these girls – they REALLY know how to eat.  :)  I forgot to take pictures of the crab but here’s our temaki spread.

Sunday night we watched the Lakers game with Yin-yin and Pa-paw (Bebe E’s paternal grandparents) and they made dinner for us.  We indulged on Pa-paw’s special BBQ tri-tip, Yin-yin’s super yummy cha-han (fried rice), salad AND Hamburger Doritos to snack on during the first half of Game 2 of the Lakers vs. Celtics Finals (we’ll get to the sad game at the end of this post.) Did anyone know that Doritos even makes a hamburger flavored chip?  Although I haven’t had one in years, it reminded me of a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  It didn’t really agree with my palate, but I admit to eating several chips with Yin-yin’s delicious dip because I was s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g… and the yummy dip helped to mask the “hamburger” in the Doritos – kinda.

Then there was our game day lunch/snack indulgence of fried wontons.  Why is it that bad fried foods taste so good?  There are several types of wontons in my life that I loooooove to eat.  My mom made two types of wonton filling when we were growing-up, and those are my absolute favorites.  She didn’t make them often for us, but if she had to make them for refreshments or a potluck, we lucked out because it meant she would make extra and we got to eat wontons for dinner.  My mother-in-law makes a third type of wonton filling that Bebe Dada grew up with, as well as a delicious dipping sauce, and I love these too! (Now I have an excuse to make three types of wontons in the future because now that I’ve mentioned them in my blog, I HAVE to make them so I can share!)

Then there is the fourth type of fried wonton – the taco wonton.  The taco wonton is something that I “met” shortly after college when a friend of mine brought these to a potluck.  Hers definitely taste WAY better than what I made, and if Turtle Mama is reading this, she knows I’m talking about HER, and please feel free to share your secret.  :)

Not too long ago, I made Taco Salad (post forthcoming – again I’m WAY behind on my foodie posts) and I made extra taco meat using ground beef, ground turkey, garlic, chopped onions and of course, Lawry’s Taco Seasoning.  I froze the extra taco meat so that I could make taco wontons some day.  :)

Taco Wontons

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground  turkey
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 packet Lawry’s Taco Seasoning
• Wonton wrappers (the square ones)
• Water to seal the wontons
• Canola oil for frying

1)  Sautee chopped onions and garlic, then make taco meat according to Lawry’s Taco seasoning packet.

2)  To make wontons, lay wrapper on your workspace and scoop about 1 teaspoon of the taco meat in the center of the wrapper.  I usually work on wax paper when I make wontons and gyoza but I was lazy this day and ended-up making a mess I had to clean-up, which I regretted.

3)  I use a butter knife, dip the tip in a bowl of water and run it along the 2 top edges of the wonton.  Makes less of a mess.

Then take the bottom and fold over the meat to seal the wonton closed.

4)  Heat canola oil in a large pot until hot.  I didn’t measure the temp of the oil.  I just take a little corner piece of the wonton, throw it in the oil and if it sizzles and floats to the top – you’re good to go.  I like to keep the range on medium-high while frying these.  Fry the wontons for about 30 – 45 seconds on one side, flip, then let it fry another 30 – 45 seconds until golden.

I let these drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Serve immediately while hot.  I served these with my mom’s super easy “special wonton sauce”.  The sauce is basically just a mix of equal portions of ketchup and okonomi sauce and a splash of Worchestershire sauce.  My mom serves this for her two types of wonton fillings and the sauce also works great with taco wontons, but you’ll probably find that the taco wontons have plenty of flavor without any sauce.

Lakers, Lakers, Lakers…  WHAT are you guys doing?!?

Honestly, I’m surprised I’m not more neurotic these days over the Lakers, considering they’re in the Finals.  I’m not sure what’s going on with me.  I think I’m exhausted.  Last week was a tough week and I’ve been feeling blah. I probably just need more sleep.  I actually slept through the 1st quarter of Sunday’s game on my in-laws’ sofa. Now that’s pretty sad.  The game was sad too.  I’d like to blame the Lakers loss on Bebe E for not wearing her Lakers onesie, or poor officiating, but the reality is that the Celtics were quick and played good defense.  Perhaps the Lakers were over-confidant.  Who knows…  All I know is that they better find their groove and start winning.  To be exact, they better win at least one game of the next 3 games that will be played on the Celtics’ home court, otherwise it’s over.  Let’s try not to think negatively and, as Bebe Dada says, “go over to the dark side.”  Let’s stay positive, and have hope that our Lakers get it together.  :)

LETS GO LAKERS!!!

Judy | bebe mama