Our Taste of Home: “Chump Dumps” aka Cantonese Wontons

by  Alex Foo

“Chump Dumps” aka Cantonese wontons, pronounced wàn tān, is a Cantonese dish that is known for its savory meat filling wrapped in a very thin dough wrapper made of flour and eggs. Wontons are also called dumplings, as they’re one of many types of dumplings. As a 4th grader, instead of calling them wontons, I would call them “Chump Dumps” for fun. Wontons have always been a staple in my household. During COVID, my family would stay home and make dumplings to pass the time and make batches for future meals. The dumplings served as a quick and easy lunch for me and my brother.

Our family uses a quick and simple recipe to make multiple servings. My mom usually prefers to keep recipes simple with less preparation time required. Growing up, we were often in time crunches, whether it was me going to tennis practice or going to my brother’s basketball practices. My family likes to eat the wontons without any noodles or soup to appreciate the salty and meaty blend.

Fun fact: I like using ponzu sauce instead of soy sauce as a complementary dip. I like how the sweet sauce complements the savory filling.

(Me, my brother, and mom making Chump Dumps. I’m on the left, and my brother and mom are on the right.)

INGREDIENTS

  • Berkshire Ground Pork - 2 lbs

  • Corn Starch - 2 tbsp

  • Light Soy Sauce - 4 tbsp

  • Salt - 2 to 2.5 tsp

  • Wonton Wrappers - 3 packages

  • Chinese Bok Choy

  • Optional: Green onions

  • Chili Oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Chop up 1 to 3 little stalks of Chinese bok choy.

  2. To make the wonton filling, in a large bowl, mix the ground pork, cornstarch, salt, bok choy, and soy sauce together.

To fold the dumplings:

  1. Scoop a small amount of filling and place in the middle of the wonton skin (don’t add too much or else the wonton wrapper will break when folding).

  2.  Wet two edges with a little bit of water.

  3. Fold the wrapper in half diagonally.

  4. Push out the air from the wonton.

  1. Push a small curve right at the middle of the dumpling. Wet one end of the dumpling, and bend the two ends together. Then pinch both ends together (pinch tightly to make sure they don't separate).

That's it! You're basically done with the preparation process! To save the dumplings for future meals, we store the dumplings flat on plates in the freezer (dust the plate with flour first so the dumplings don’t stick to the plate).

Cooking the Wontons: This part is super easy!

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once fully boiling, add a frozen plate of wontons. Mix them around occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. (Don’t mix too much though, or else the skins may break!)  Boil the wontons for 6-7 minutes or until the wontons rise to the top.

  2. After the wontons are done, take them out of the pot with a strainer.

 

Plating Process:

  1. Plate your dumplings. You can add your desired sauce of choice! (I like ponzu over soy sauce.)

  2. Optional: You can cook some bok choy in the water after cooking the dumplings for a nice vegetable. You can also cut up green onions and add chili oil to add more flavor as well!

Food Roots