The Key To Keeping Your Wonton Wrappers From Drying Out

Wontons, potstickers, and other types of Chinese dumplings are not only fun to eat but can also be surprisingly easy to make at home, at least, if they're the kind that can be made with store-bought wrappers. (Yes, you could probably make wrappers from scratch if you're super-skilled with pastry, but you're on your own there.) Still, there's just one teensy, little issue with the wrappers themselves, though, and that's the fact that they can be difficult to work with once they dry out.

Developer Cecilia Ryu, who shared her recipe for spicy chicken potstickers with Mashed, recommends draping a damp towel over the wonton wrappers as you work to fill them. The reason for this is that the moisture from the towel should keep the waiting wrappers from getting too dry. Ryu says this will also work if your wontons come out of the package with dry edges. In this instance, she says she'll wrap them in a damp paper towel and then stick them in a plastic bag for a few hours. "In most cases," she says, "it will make the edges soft."

While the damp towel trick will work for slightly dehydrated wonton wrappers, there is a point where they can get too dry to be revived for pot-sticking purposes. This, however, doesn't mean that the wrappers are entirely unusable. Even if they're no longer able to wrap anything, you can always take advantage of their dried-out state to turn them into tasty wonton chips.

If the wonton wrappers are dry enough, you can break them into bits, but if they're not quite there yet, you can slice them into triangles, squares, or strips to make the chips, At that point, you can either deep-fry the chips for a minute or two until they get puffy or else coat them with oil and bake or air-fry them until they're crunchy and golden-brown (but still flat). These wonton chips can add some crunch to a salad and would make a great garnish for egg drop or hot and sour soup, but they can also be eaten with a duck sauce or spicy mustard dip.