Wonton
A Chinese dumpling made with a thin wheat-flour wrapper around a savory filling. Wontons are commonly boiled and served in soup, or fried until crisp.
Wonton wrapper: A thin sheet of wheat-based dough used to enclose wonton filling. Its thinness makes wontons tender when boiled and crisp when fried.
Boiling: Cooking food in liquid that has reached its boiling point. Boiling cooks wontons quickly while keeping their wrappers soft.
Cantonese cuisine: The culinary traditions associated with Guangdong and Cantonese-speaking communities. Cantonese cooking popularized wontons served with noodles and in clear broth.
Han dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 206 BCE to 220 CE, with a brief interruption. Accounts of early wonton-like foods are sometimes situated in this period, though the evidence is limited.
Baozi: A Chinese steamed bun made from leavened dough and filled with savory or sweet ingredients. Baozi use thick, risen dough, unlike the thin wrapper of a wonton.
Wonton filling: A seasoned mixture enclosed inside a wonton wrapper, often made with pork or shrimp. Its ingredients and seasoning give each wonton much of its flavor.
Deep frying: Cooking food by immersing it in hot oil or fat. Deep frying produces the crisp shell associated with fried wontons.
Hong Kong-style wonton noodles: A Hong Kong dish of wontons and thin egg noodles served in broth. This noodle soup makes wontons the centerpiece of a complete meal.
Jiaozi: A Chinese dumpling typically made with a thicker wrapper and shaped into a crescent. Jiaozi and wontons are related dumplings, but differ in wrapper, shape, and customary serving.
Gyoza: Japanese dumplings derived from Chinese jiaozi, commonly pan-fried and served with a dipping sauce. Gyoza are related filled dumplings, but have a different wrapper and cooking tradition.