Wonton Cups, or Edible Snack Containers

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As you may have noticed I have taken a small break from blogging. After an intense shopping and cooking period, I have been spending recent days eating the remains of Christmas food, drinking wine, going through the tons of books I was offered for Christmas and, in general, enjoying a most lazy end of the year. I hope you are also relaxing and enjoying this festive period. The recipe I am going to present today perfectly illustrates my partly idle and festive mood. In fact, if I were to make a list of recipes with the highest attractiveness vs easiness ratio, these dumpling wrapper cups would win hands up. I will not exaggerate if I say that in my case they have revolutionised the world of snacks and particularly of finger food.

The ridiculously simple “recipe” keeps in one sentence really: brush the wonton wrappers with oil, line muffin moulds with it and bake for ten minutes. Once the edible, crisp cups are ready, you can fill them with practically whatever you wish, as long as it doesn’t leak. As you see, this time I chose my beloved guacamole, but the possibilities are really infinite. I can already imagine myriads of dips, salads and even grilled dishes, which served in these small cups would brighten up any party table.

This unusual way to use wonton skins is one of the most extraordinary cooking discoveries of this year and I owe it to Juliana (Simple Recipes) who, thanks to her beautiful post featuring wonton cups with smoked salmon filling, taught me the most magical snack trick in the world. Thank you so much, Juliana, for this amazing idea!

Before I pass to the recipe I would like to wish all my dear readers a very happy and prosperous New Year. May this upcoming year make all your dreams come true.

TIPS: If you want your cups neat and round, follow Juliana’s advice and cut off the corners before baking the skins. I found the uneven corners quite amusing (especially since it made the recipe even lazier…).

Before filling the cups with salads and other dishes with sauce, make sure they are well drained; the cups are not 100% waterproof!

Cut the filling’s ingredients into small chunks, so that the cups are easy to eat.

The cups can be made in advance (even two days in advance) and kept (empty) covered with paper towels.

Here are some other wonton filling suggestions:

mackerspreadp

Smoked Mackerel and Egg Spread

rspp

Rice Salad with Shrimp and Avocado

confitoignonp

Onion Confit with Fig and Port

mangochickenp

Mango, Chicken and Cucumber Salad

freshchradish2p

Fresh Cheese Spread

avocadowalnut2p

Avocado and Walnut Salad

babaghanoujpp

Baba Ghanouj (Aubergine Dip)

calamarp

Korean Stir-Fried Squid

Preparation: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

wonton (Asian dumpling) wrappers (thawed)

oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Brush wonton wrappers with oil, piling them up and slightly pressing so that you brush only one side of each sheet, but both sides end up oily.

Line muffin moulds (or other small moulds) with the wrappers and bake for about 10 minutes until they become golden brown.

(I use silicone moulds, so no need to grease them, but if you use metal tins you might need to brush them with oil).

As soon as the cups cool down, fill them with whatever comes to your mind and serve.

Empty cups keep crunchy for three days covered with paper towels.

Published by Sissi

44 Replies to “Wonton Cups, or Edible Snack Containers”

  1. What a perfect recipe to wrap up the holidays with Sissi! The ponytails would love these — I just need to figure out the right filling for the girls! I have been taking a break from blogging and commenting too! Isn’t it fantastic to have some time to be lazy! December was so busy there were times I didn’t know if I would manage! I am so glad to have had a lovely holidays Sissi! A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! Looking forward to following along on your cooking adventures in 2013!

    1. Thank you so much, Barb. They have a funny part which I suppose would please children too. Happy New Year!

  2. You made such a nice use of those wrappers. I love this lazy time too. Seen tons of japanese movies (laugh), read a lot, cooked a lot too. Still another lazy week to come before I am back at my office.
    Read you again next year – Happy New Year!

    1. Thank you very much, Kiki. I also have been watching a lot of films and reading good Japanese books too (no, not in Japanese alas…). Happy New Year!

      1. I made a batch of pork and shrimp potstickers today and ended up with 4 leftover wontons. I can make these cups but I wonder what I can put inside. I’ll have to go rooting around in my fridge/pantry. The dulce de leche would be too sweet by itself but I have 3 Fuji apples, caramel sauce and some whipping cream. Maybe I can do something with them. 🙂

        1. Sorry for the late reply (time difference, work etc.). You can fill the cups with anything as long as it doesn’t leak… I hope you have found a creative idea!

  4. I am glad that you had good and relaxing Christmas season and I think everyone needs that. I love the lineup of delicious fillings you have there. They make this crispy wonton cups very special. Have a wonderful New Year, Sissi and wish you more success and good health on the coming year!

  5. I think with all the food, drinks and break your brain is working super efficiently, working smarter not harder. Those cups look deceptively complex. When I think crispy wontons, the first and only thing that comes to mind is deep fried wontons filled with minced meat (pork usually I think). I was thinking of it today, haven’t had it in years. I suppose these can be filled with mince. And you can use the same cup/concept to make a dessert filling (maybe not for the same dinner party!).

    1. Thank you very much, Mr. Three-Cookies, for such huge compliments! I’m really flattered. I also was surprised to discover this magical use of wonton wrappers. Dessert filling sounds like a great idea too.

  10. This is such a great way to offer finger foods without mess. One bite and it’s over and all you need is a napkin. I love ths post!

    Happy New Year and may 2013 bring you a life full of joy.

  11. Sissi, hello again and Happy New Year! I wish you and your loved ones enjoy the holiday!
    I love your wonton cups! They look so crunchy and addictive. Thanks for sharing the amazing ideas for the filling too!

  12. Happy New Year Sissi!! I think everyone should give it a rest during the holidays 😉 – I know I did too and it felt great. It’s so nice to disconnect and just ‘be’ for a while… I’m very grateful that you posted this so-called ridiculously simple recipe, because I think it’s brilliant! I came across something similar when I first started blogging – bowls made from tortilla shells (which I love) but I’ve not seen them using wonton wrappers which I think is such a great idea – the sizing is fun too – perfect for little bites and they look so pretty! And yes, the achievability factor is always appreciated by this gal – thank goodness for simplicity I say! ;-). Hugs to you Sissi and very best wishes for 2013!!

    1. Happy New Year, Kelly! I have noticed you had taken a short break too. Thank you so much for the compliments, I’m really glad you like this idea as much as I did. I wish I had discovered this easy trick a long time ago…

  13. These are a lovely alternative to a heavy pastry crust, great idea Sissi and I love the round up too. I have used phylo pastry like this but it tends to be very fragile, yours is perfect!

    1. Thank you so much, Eva. I’m glad you like these cups. They are a great lighter alternative to tartlets and similar snacks indeed. I found wonton wrappers extremely easy to handle, much easier than phylo (but the texture is a bit different of course).

  14. my friend did that for our joint birthday party and I was so impressed by this quick and easy tip! she filled it with prawns and feta cheese and spianch, so I guess you could call it fusion, but it struck me then how many endless possibilities there were! totally brilliant (:

    1. Thanks a lot, Shuhan. These cups have lots of possible fillings indeed. It was a great discovery for me.

  15. Happy New Year Sissi! I actually have never tried wonton cups before. It’s true, there are many ways to use these wonton cups, including desserts and savory dishes. I can prepare some fillings buffet with wonton cups for guests to make their own… I will give this a try soon. I’m hosting a dinner this weekend, I’ll think about the filling first! 🙂

  17. Dear Sissi,

    Great ideas with the wonton skin. I find there are so many good canapes and finger foods that can be made with it and the presentation can be exciting too. The crispy texture is my favourite thing about this ingredient.

  19. So how did miss these? I love this little wonton cups! I just bought a bag of avocados and I can see these filled with guacamole.

    1. Thanks a lot, Sharon. I must admit they are my favourite snack nowadays. Cheap, easy, quick and always impress my guests. I hope you will make them one day.

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