It is also spelled wantan or wuntun in transliteration from Cantonese 雲吞 / 云吞 (wan4 tan1) and wenden from Shanghainese 餛飩 / 馄饨 (hhun den).Yang Xiong from the western Han dynasty mentioned "bing wei zhi tun", which means wontons are a type of bread.The ancient Han Chinese thought wonton were a sealed bun, lacking "qi qiao" ('seven orifices'), so it was called "hun dun" (混沌), which means 'turbidity' or 'chaos'.Based on the Chinese method of making written characters, the radicals are changed from water to food; then, they became "hun tun" (餛飩, wonton in Cantonese).Adhesion may be improved by moistening the wrapper's inner edges, dipping a fingertip into water, and running it across the dry dough to dissolve the extra flour.As part of the sealing process, the air is pressed out of the interior to avoid rupturing the wonton from internal pressure when cooked.The most versatile shape is a simple right triangle, made by folding the square wrapper in half by pulling together two diagonally opposite corners.These are called xiao huntun (literally "little wonton") and are invariably served in a soup, often with condiments such as pickles, ginger, sesame oil, and cilantro (coriander leaves).[10] Each region of China has its own variations of wonton; examples include Beijing, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Guangdong (Canton), and Fujian.The "large" wontons are carefully wrapped in a shape similar to tortellini, and a single bowl can serve as lunch or a light dinner.One popular variety in Shanghai that originated in Suzhou is "three delicacies wonton" (san xian hun tun), which contains pork, shrimp, and beef liver as primary ingredients.
Preparing and filling wonton dumplings in
Hong Kong