Contestants were challenged to make something extra crunchy and Perth-based chef Brendan Pang, of Mauritian-Chinese heritage, made deep-fried wonton as his offering. The Twitterverse was set ablaze when judge Andy Allen, who was the winner of MasterChef Australia back in season four, criticised the dish as the meaty part of the appetiser wasn’t “crispy enough”.
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Many commentators were quick to link this to another bungle in the popular international television series when Gregg Wallace, a judge on the UK version of MasterChef, criticised a contestant’s chicken rendang in 2018 for not being crispy – despite the fact most Indonesians expect the dish to have more of a gravy-like consistency similar to Indian chicken masala.Why Malaysians are so protective about their cuisine
Traditionally boiled then served in soup, Wonton is prevalent throughout China. Different versions have different names and the dumpling has a rather romantic legend of being a dish created by Empress Xi Shi for Emperor Li Kun when he lost his appetite. However, the early versions of wonton were referred to as “dim sum”, in the context of a breakfast food, in texts going as far back as the Tang dynasty.
According to The Record of Folk Custom from the Qing dynasty, there was a marked difference between morning dim sum – which includes wontons – and dry dim sum for tea time, but this distinction was soon blurred and eventually disappeared.
Around the turn of the century, Chinese essayist Zhou Zuoren discussed the history of dim sum and remarked that “Northern dim sum is a necessity, while southern dim sum is a leisure”. While in the north where resources are more scarce dim sum refers to staple food items like dumplings and wonton noodles, in the south there are high-end tea houses and farms which have better yields, so the dim sum typically has a bit more finesse and flavour.
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We can only surmise that it was in the southern provinces where there were more resources that people started to use a vat of oil to deep-fry wonton and serve it immediately while it was still crispy. Dim sum chef Wong Wai-tim, of The Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant agrees: “Fried wontons came from Guangdong province, and it’s one of the classic fried snack dishes. In the old days, there was a special dim sum cart for deep fried items that included wontons, spring rolls, glutinous rice dumplings and sweet bean dumplings.”
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So, how crispy should a fried wonton be? Chef Wong’s answer is quite simple. “Only a very slight variation in crunchiness between the meaty parcel and its surrounding pastry is acceptable.”
It’s actually quite a delicate balance between the construction and the deep-frying process, because chef Wong remarks that one shouldn’t put too much meat in the filling otherwise the meaty part will get soggy. But there’s also a danger of over-frying as the surrounding skin could become burnt and acrid.
Based on chef Wong’s description, judge Andy Allen is vindicated – deep-fried wontons should be quite crispy.
Where are Singapore noodles from? How are century eggs made? Are French fries improperly named? And what’s the final verdict on where tikka masala was created? With the Origins series, STYLE delves into the often surprising beginnings of iconic dishes or foods, how they’ve evolved over time and the many ways they’re enjoyed today.
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