Jalapeño Popper Wontons! That’s right!!! Go ahead…I’ll give you a minute to take it in…Ok. Are you ready?
Have you ever had a Jalapeño Popper before? A Jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese, topped with bread crumbs and baked to an irresistible golden brown hue. Ok, now imagine that bite of cheesy goodness being caressed by a smokey slice of ham. Ok, now imagine this little parcel of crunchy creamy scrumptiousness in your mouth. I’m sorry to do this to you but this is just…*sigh*…too delicious for you to pass up.
The inspiration came from when I was on a ketogenic diet. If you don’t know what this is then it is best if you don’t ever find out. Just saying that word makes me shutter in disgust. During this diet, I ate A LOT of cheese…most of which was wrapped in deli meat. I was playing with my food one day and accidentally made a wonton shape, thought it was cool and casted the thought to the back of my mind. The thought resurfaced recently and I knew right then and there what needed to be done! I had to make this but make it blog worthy and share it with the world.
First I had to figure out what pairs well with cream cheese? Cheddar. Chives. Jalapeno. Ham. Paprika. I couldn’t decide so I used them all! The panko is present to give this dish that savory crunch and as a middle finger to the months I spent on keto. So with that said, here is a jalapeno poppers recipe presented by an Asian American cook. Enjoy!
- 8 oz Deli Ham The thinner, the better
- 2 whole Jalapenos
- 3 oz Cream Cheese
- 1 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 tbsp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 tbsp Chives Finely Diced, plus more for garnish
- 1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika Plus more for garnish
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/8 tsp Sugar
- 1 oz Unsalted Butter
- 4 oz Panko
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- Salt To Taste
- Grounded Black Pepper To Taste
- Over medium heat, melt the butter. As soon as the butter has melted, throw in the panko crumbs, garlic powder salt and pepper. Keep stirring until they are golden brown. Move off heat.
- Finely dice ONE jalapeno and mix with all the ingredients for "Jalapeño Popper Wontons" (excluding the deli ham). Cut the other jalapeno into rings and submerge under ice water (this will keep them green and crispy).
- Pat the ham dry and place 1 tsp of the filling in the center.
- Fold the ham in half and place a bit of the filling on a corner. Then fold. See notes for more details.
- Done! Combine all the ingredients on a plate/platter. Plate this however you want.
Here is a much better tutorial and different ways to fold wontons.
Keep your ham DRY. It will not stick if it is moist.
The thinner the slices, the easier it is to fold.