The Right Wrap

Here’s the secret to creating a variety of the best crosscultural appetizers and dishes: Asian wrappers. Wonton, soi gow, siu mai and eggroll skins, along with rice paper, are versatile, easy to work with and very inexpensive.

Square-shaped wonton skins filled with interesting mixtures of meat, poultry and vegetables and deep-fried are a popular snack here and in Asia. Delicate and tender ultra-thin siu mai wrappers formed around seafood fillings and served in a flavorful broth are typical Chinese fare, as are pot-stickers with their crispy-brown bottoms that contrast with the succulent steamed bodies. Filipino, Japanese, Chinese and Burmese cooks use the large square eggroll wrappers for a multitude of dishes, and many Thai and Vietnamese appetizers couldn’t exist without those fine gossamer rice papers.

Standard Chinese wrappers like wonton, soi gow, siu mai, potsticker and eggroll skins are used in a variety of ways. Rice paper is a favored wrapper used primarily in Southeast Asian cooking and is most evident in the traditional Vietnamese Imperial rolls and cold noodle rolls. Crepe, bean curd skin, yeasted dough, doughs made from roots and even banana leaves are also used to wrap around exotic concoctions, but we will focus on five wrappers that are very easy to work with and are available in all Asian stores and most large grocery stores.

Asian wrappers come from humble beginnings: flour, water, eggs and salt. There are a few variations--such as sugar, malted barley and wheat or rice flour--but for the most part these wrappers are a simple combination of four core ingredients.

In order of decreasing thickness, we start with potsticker skins, which come 30 to 35 to a 16-ounce pack. These round skins are used almost exclusively for potstickers, since they are thick enough to stand up to pan-frying and then steaming. They are a bit thick for stuffing and simply steaming or frying, but they do make decent ravioli.

Round soi gow come 55 to 60 to a 16-ounce package and are traditionally used in soup. They are thick enough to withstand longer periods in hot broth but are still a little too thick to be served steamed or fried.

Wonton skins are always square but come in three thicknesses: ultra-thin (90 per 16 ounces), medium (65 to 70 per 16 ounces) and thick (40 per 16 ounces). The thin ones are used for soups and broth, the medium size can be used for either and the thick wonton skins are best for frying.

Siu mai are round and very thin and are sold in 14-ounce packages with about 90 to 95 skins per package. Siu mai are best for steaming and are frequently used for dim sum.

Rice paper, made from rice flour, water and salt, is extremely brittle, unlike the other wrappers. It comes in varying sizes of round and triangular shapes and each piece has a pattern of the bamboo mat on which it is dried.

Rice papers are the only wrappers that can be used and eaten uncooked as well as cooked. These wrappers must be brushed with cold water to make them pliable, but the other wrappers require only cornstarch slurry to help the edges and seams stick together.

Once you get the hang of these wonderful wrappers, you will no doubt find many ways to use them in both savory and sweet dishes. The following guidelines will help you get started, but there really aren’t any tricks or secrets to working with them.

* Wonton, soi gow, siu mai and eggroll skins must be stored in the refrigerator. They will keep for several weeks refrigerated and several months in the freezer. Remove the refrigerated skins about half an hour before you plan to use them.

* Rice papers can be stored in a tightly sealed plastic bag at a cool, dry room temperature for many months.

* Wontons, dumplings and ravioli freeze well. First place the dumplings in a single layer on baking sheets; freeze until hard. Transfer to a thick plastic bag, seal tightly and place inside another plastic bag. Freeze for up to six months.

* All skins (except the rice papers) must be sealed with a mixture of cornstarch mixed with cold water. A slurry is made by combining 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 5 tablespoons cold water. Brush the slurry just on the edges or on the entire surface of the skin to encourage the two sides to adhere to one another. Use a pastry brush to smooth the slurry onto the skin.

* When working with all wrappers, be sure to keep the stack covered with a damp towel. Work with only four or five at a time so that they don’t dry out before you finish rolling or folding. Rice papers are particularly susceptible to drying and curling when exposed to the air, so pay special attention when working with these wrappers.

* When making ravioli or dumplings, it’s important to squeeze out air that may be trapped between the two layers of skins. Trapped air will often cause dumplings to explode while cooking, spoiling your hard work and leaving you with a bunch of empty wrappers floating in boiling water or broth, or, even worse, ruining a large pot of vegetable oil used for deep-frying.

* When placing a second skin on top of the first skin, press the two together by starting closest to the filling. Working outward, press the skins together, forcing out any air pockets as you go. When using only one skin, fold over the filling and press any trapped air out before you seal the edges.

* Make sure all edges are tightly sealed. Openings around the edge will allow the filling to seep out.

* When cooking very thin-skinned dumplings or ravioli in hot water or broth, it’s best to boil lightly rather than rapidly; sometimes fiercely boiling liquid will cause the dumplings to open.

* Dumplings or ravioli are done when the skins are tender and the fillings are hot and thoroughly cooked; many filled foods float to the surface when they are fully cooked. Deep-fried foods are done when the exterior is an even golden brown and the fillings are hot and fully cooked. When in doubt, remove one from the batch and sample.

* When draining very delicate dumplings or ravioli, remove them from the cooking liquid using a slotted spoon or fine wire mesh rather than dumping the water with the dumplings into a colander.

SIU MAI DUMPLINGS WITH BACON-SHRIMP FILLING

When pressed for time, use canned chicken or beef broth instead of homemade. You can add some miso (Japanese fermented bean paste) and chopped Swiss chard to give the broth more depth of flavor and color.

2/3 pound thick-sliced bacon, each slice cut into 4 pieces

1/2 pound prawns, peeled and trimmed

1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, optional

1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

50 siu mai skins

Cornstarch slurry

3 quarts chicken or beef broth

Cook bacon until fat is barely golden on each side and meat is just pink. Remove with slotted spoon and place in bowl. Add prawns, green onions, garlic, coriander, red pepper flakes, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Process mixture in food processor or blender in batches until finely ground, well blended and very soft. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Place 10 siu mai skins on flat surface. Using pastry brush, brush each skin with slurry. Place about 1 teaspoon filling on lower half of each skin. Fold one side over filling, making half-moon shape, squeezing air from between skins. Gently press edge of dumpling to secure filling. Make remaining 40 dumplings--10 at a time--in same way. Dumplings may be frozen at this point or refrigerated up to 2 hours.

To cook, heat 3 quarts broth in very large pan over high heat. When hot, add dumplings, stirring gently with wooden spoon. Cook over moderate heat 5 to 7 minutes or until most of dumplings have floated to surface and skins are thoroughly cooked. Serve with the broth.

Makes 50 dumplings, or 8 servings with broth.

Each serving contains about:

356 calories; 1,699 mg sodium; 81 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams protein; 0.25 gram fiber.

ITALIAN EGGROLLS WITH PEPPERS AND OLIVES

Italian ingredients give this classic Chinese dish a new twist. These rolls aren’t exactly low-fat, but once in a while it’s fun to splurge. When deep-frying, be sure to fill the pan only half full of oil; the oil expands when it heats, and when the food is added it often bubbles fiercely and rises to the top. To test the temperature of the oil without a fat thermometer, drop a cube of bread into the hot fat. If the bread browns in about 1 minute, the oil is right for cooking.

1 pound vermicelli

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 cup pitted and finely chopped oil-cured or kalamata olives

1/2 pound creamy feta or goat cheese

Salt, pepper

24 eggroll skins

Cornstarch slurry

1 1/2 quarts oil for frying

Bring 2 quarts salted water to boil in very large pan. Add vermicelli and cook 5 minutes. Drain well and place in large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, red and yellow peppers, olives and cheese. Mix gently. Season with salt and pepper and cool to room temperature. Set aside until needed.

Place 6 eggroll skins on flat surface with square rotated to a diamond shape (so that tip is closest to you). Brush each skin with slurry. Place about 3 rounded tablespoons filling across skin about 1 1/2 inches from bottom tip and 1 inch from side edges. Fold bottom tip over filling and fold over two side tips to cover filling. Continue rolling, making a tight roll but taking care not to tear skin. Gently press seam so that roll is secure. Make remaining rolls in this fashion.

Heat oil in 4-quart pan over moderately high heat. When hot (about 360 degrees), add a few eggrolls and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown on all sides. (You may also cook rolls in deep-sided skillet using less oil.) Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Cook remaining eggrolls in this fashion. Serve immediately. (Eggrolls can be kept warm in low oven while you prepare remaining rolls.)

Makes about 24 eggrolls.

Each eggroll contains about:

196 calories; 315 mg sodium; 11 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.54 gram fiber.

CRISPY WONTON TRIANGLES WITH POWDERED SUGAR

Similar to barely sweetened Italian deep-fried cookies, these wonton skins are ideal for deep-frying and dusting with vanilla sugar, drizzling with maple or chocolate syrup or serving with pudding or ice cream. To make vanilla sugar, split a very fresh vanilla bean lengthwise and place in a jar of powdered sugar. Cover and store 3 weeks or more for a more pronounced flavor.

1 (16-ounce) package thin or medium thick wonton skins

1 1/2 quarts oil

1/2 cup powdered sugar

maple syrup

Using ravioli cutter, cut each wonton wrapper in half to make 2 equal triangle shapes. If you do not have a ravioli cutter, simply cut skins in half with sharp kitchen knife. Separate skins.

Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan over moderately high heat. When hot but not smoking, add 1/4 of the skins and fry until golden brown. (Length of time will depend on what thickness you are using.) Remove with slotted spoon to fine wire mesh and drain on paper towels. Deep-fry remaining skins. Place in large bowl and dust with sifted powdered sugar or arrange on individual plates and drizzle with maple syrup.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 6 servings contain about:

236 calories; 204 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0 fiber.