Family - The Wonton of My Life
The wonton is the iconic ingredient of the eggroll and the one most important to its structural integrity. But besides holding it together, it is a delicious component that gives the eggroll its deliciously crunchy and tasty outer shell. The story of the wonton in my family demonstrates the network of Chun cooking in Chinatown.
We actually did not make the wontons, but rather another side of our family, which owned a food import company. My grandmother's side of the family was responsible for that business, known as Chinese Trading Company. Located in the heart of Chinatown, it opened in 1965 as the premier distribution center for an array of imported food items for restaurants and companies such as ours. We would buy all our wontons from this sister company and use them to construct our eggrolls.
Once we had the wontons, we would unwrap the fresh, flat noodles so that they could be wrapped around my grandfather's eggroll filling. It was my father's job to fill the eggrolls and wrap them. Immediately after wrapping them, the wontons would be sealed with egg yolk, hence the term "egg roll". This prevented the eggrolls from unraveling during the cooking process. Once they were properly wrapped, they would be sent off to another side of the factory where they would be deep-fried and frozen, ready to be shipped out to eager customers around the country. The wonton was critical to holding the eggroll together while frying. Indeed, a poorly wrapped or sealed eggroll would often fall apart while cooking. For that reason, wrapping the eggroll properly was an extremely important step in the process.
Family has always been my main support in my life. From the day I was born to the day that I die, family will exist to support me in times of both triumph and failure. Without it, the structural integrity of my life falls apart, just like the filling of an eggroll does with a poorly wrapped wonton. In this way, I depend on family to support me in everything I do. These poems reflect on the importance of familial relationships and what family truly is. In many ways, the reflect my own views on family. Each poem is followed by an analysis and personal response.
-Robert Chun
Picture Source
We actually did not make the wontons, but rather another side of our family, which owned a food import company. My grandmother's side of the family was responsible for that business, known as Chinese Trading Company. Located in the heart of Chinatown, it opened in 1965 as the premier distribution center for an array of imported food items for restaurants and companies such as ours. We would buy all our wontons from this sister company and use them to construct our eggrolls.
Once we had the wontons, we would unwrap the fresh, flat noodles so that they could be wrapped around my grandfather's eggroll filling. It was my father's job to fill the eggrolls and wrap them. Immediately after wrapping them, the wontons would be sealed with egg yolk, hence the term "egg roll". This prevented the eggrolls from unraveling during the cooking process. Once they were properly wrapped, they would be sent off to another side of the factory where they would be deep-fried and frozen, ready to be shipped out to eager customers around the country. The wonton was critical to holding the eggroll together while frying. Indeed, a poorly wrapped or sealed eggroll would often fall apart while cooking. For that reason, wrapping the eggroll properly was an extremely important step in the process.
Family has always been my main support in my life. From the day I was born to the day that I die, family will exist to support me in times of both triumph and failure. Without it, the structural integrity of my life falls apart, just like the filling of an eggroll does with a poorly wrapped wonton. In this way, I depend on family to support me in everything I do. These poems reflect on the importance of familial relationships and what family truly is. In many ways, the reflect my own views on family. Each poem is followed by an analysis and personal response.
-Robert Chun
Picture Source
