Wonton

Wontons (馄饨 húntun) have been a customary food for people to eat on the winter solstice since the Tang Dynasty (618–907). At that time, wonton had no difference from dumplings in its preparation, only its shape.

For hundreds of years, dumplings hadn't changed, but wonton became later, more and more popular in the southern part of China and developed a distinct style. From the time of the Tang Dynasty, people began to differentiate the name of dumpling (jiaozi) and wonton

The most versatile shape of a wonton is simple a right triangle, similar to Italian tortellini. Wontons are commonly boiled and served in soup or sometimes deep-fried. The filling of wontons can be minced pork or diced shrimp.

Wonton resemble jiaozi (餃子) dumplings but usually have smaller filling and wrapped in a thin 6x6cm2 yellow square dough wrapper or an isosceles trapezoid and folded into a triangular shape resembling a Chinese gold ingot known as yuanbao (元寶) while jiaozi is wrapped in a slightly thicker circular white dough wrapper with larger filling and either flat or pleated edges.

The wonton dough wrapper, sometimes referred to as a wonton skin and becomes transparent after being thoroughly boiled. It takes a shorter time to boil a wonton. The texture is also very smooth.

Wontons are traditionally served in soup, but  jiaozi is usually eaten with dipping sauce. Jiaozi is more popular in nothern China.

Each region of China has its own variations of wonton, examples include Beijing, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Guangdong (Canton), Fujian, etc.

Cantonese cuisine

In Cantonese cuisine, shrimp-filled wonton within minced pork is most commonly served with thin noodles to make wonton noodles. It may also be consumed with red vinegar. The soup is made from boiling shrimp shells, pork bones and dried flounder to give it a distinct taste. Hong Kong wontons were introduced to the area after World War II as street food and later indoor eateries. Wonton are served Hong Hong style often with egg noodles in many countries worldwide .

Sichuan cuisine

In Sichuan, semi-pentagonal wonton are known as "folded arms" (Chinese: 抄手; pinyin: chāo shǒu) since after initially folding the wonton skin into a right triangle, each end of the hypotenuse is pressed against the middle of opposite sides, creating an impression of crossed arms/hands. These are often served in a sesame paste and chili oil sauce as a dish called "red oil wonton" (Chinese: 红油抄手; pinyin: hóng yóu chāo shǒu).

Shanghai cuisine

In Shanghai and its surrounding area (Jiangnan, nowadays Yangtze River Delta), wonton filling is most often made with minced meat (usually pork) and shepherd's purse served in chicken soup; however, Shanghai cuisine makes a clear distinction between small wontons and large wontons. The former are casually wrapped by closing the palm on a wrapper with a dab of pork filling as if crumpling a sheet of paper. These are popular accompaniments to breakfast or brunch fare. The "large" wontons are carefully wrapped, in a shape similar to tortellini, and a single bowl can serve as lunch or a light dinner. They are available with a large variety of fillings; a popular Shanghai fast food chain offers more than 50 varieties. One popular variety in Shanghai which is said to have originated in Suzhou is "three delicacies wonton" (san xian hun tun), which contains pork, shrimp and fish as primary ingredients.

Ningbo cuisine

Ningbo wonton come in two types, steamed wonton and wonton soup. Both are filled with pork and shrimp. Available at many Chinese-American restaurants, these wontons became popular due to their traditional preparation.

Jiangzhe cuisine

Jiangsu is often called "wonton". Wonton have two types, small wontons and big wontons. Big wontons are a large ingot shape. Generally boiled with boiled water, point lard with MSG, the soup will usually be matched with thin egg omelette, seaweed, mustard greens, and shrimp.

In American, European  Chinese cuisine (and occasionally in Canada as well), wontons are served in two ways: in wonton soup (wontons in a clear broth), and as an appetizer called fried wontons. Fried wontons are served with a meat filling (usually pork), and eaten with duck sauce, plum sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or hot mustard.