Potstickers

These are really tasty and fun to make, but if you don't have a lot of time this recipe is not for you. Folding the dumplings takes forever, especially if you double the recipe like I did. The recipe I used (here) makes about 50 potstickers. I made 100 and it took a few hours. I modified the foodnetwork recipe a little bit based on the ingredients I had.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients I used:

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more precisely:

PORK AND GINGER FILLING:

• 2 cups chopped napa cabbage
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 pound ground pork (Don't get lean pork, the fat is good for juicy and flavorful dumplings)
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 egg

HOT WATER DOUGH:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups boiling water

FOR FRYING/STEAMING:

• 1 tablespoon oil (sesame, canola, whatever)
• 1 cup of water + soy sauce packet (free) OR 1 cup chicken stock (recommended)

FOR EATING:

• Duck sauce (free) OR Hoisin sauce (recommended)

Method

dough

Here we go. First, I made the dough.

Boil a few cups of water.

Mix 1.5 cups of boiling water, four cups of flour, and 1 tsp salt.

I doubled that recipe and made two batches of dough. To make the dough ball, stir and knead the mixture until it becomes a uniform, elastic blob. Be careful; you can burn yourself if you use your hands too soon.

Cover the dough with damp paper towels and put them in the refrigerator. They will need to cool for about an hour.

filling

Onto the filling.

Take apart the napa cabbage and clean the leaves. 1 head is good for two batches of potstickers, so I am using the whole thing. If you're making one batch, use only half of the cabbage.

I don't know anything about cabbage and the foodnetwork recipe doesn't give details, so I made up a method for shredding the cabbage. Cut the hard, white part out of each leaf and discard. I assume we don't want to eat that part, but if you think it'll be good, decide for yourself if you want to use it.

Bunch up the leaves and slice them on the red lines. It is easiest to cut near your hand, so I moved my hand as I cut through the cabbage. By that I mean I started with my hand by the right red line and cut, then moved it to the next red line and cut, etc.

Dry out the cabbage on a some paper towels. Sprinkle some salt onto the cabbage. The foodnetwork recipe says to wring out the cabbage, but I just let it sit while I make the pork.

Fry the ground pork. Chop it with the end of your spatula as you fry it. You don't want big chunks of pork because they won't fit in your potstickers easily. Again, the amount I am frying (1lb) is for a double batch.

Now mix everything together. The amount shown in the picture is double for what the recipe below calls. 2 cups chopped napa cabbage 1/2 tablespoon salt 1/2 pound ground pork (Don't get lean pork, the fat is good for juicy and flavorful dumplings) 2 tablespoons minced ginger 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 egg

dumplings

Now for the dumplings!! You might need to wait a little longer to start on these since the dough should be cool for an hour.

Make a long tube about 1" in diameter then slice it into chunks like shown.

Roll a chunk to make a sphere, then flatten it with a rolling pin or other flattening device.

I used a can of pam since we don't have a rolling pin.

Plop some filling in the middle. It's about a tablespoon, I'd guess. Make sure the filling doesn't touch the edges because if it does they won't stick together properly.

To prevent juices from the filling from touching the edges, I folded the potstickers together like this, then pinch the corners on the bottom together.

Then pinch all the way around.

Next, fold over the edge and pinch. Do this all the way around the seam.

Here is another picture to show how to pinch over the edges. The backside of the potsticker should be flat, without the frills. I don't know if this is how potstickers are traditionally made, but the recipe wasn't clear and this works for me.

Looks like this when finished.

This is how I stored my potstickers. After each layer, I put a new layer of foil with flour. Another option is to dip the potstickers in flour and put them in ziplock baggies. Makes sure they are well-floured or they will stick together. Of course, if you plan on cooking all of the potstickers at once you can just put them all on a plate or something. I like to freeze batches so I can eat them whenever I want.

frying

And finally, the frying! I strongly suggest using a teflon pan because if you do not the potstickers will definitely stick to the pan. I tried cooking them on a non-teflon pan once and I had to destroy half of the potstickers just to get them off the pan.

The method for cooking frozen potstickers is the same. You can just add a little more chickenstock or water so that they cook a bit longer.

Heat a spoonful of oil your frying pan then place the potstickers in pan. I used canola oil because we don't have sesame oil like the recipe suggests. I like to put the smooth side down.

Fry the potstickers like this for a minute or so, until the bottoms are golden brown. The one in the picture is more brown than usual because this is my second batch and the pan has leftover soy sauce in it.

After the bottoms are browned, add 1 cup of chicken stock. I forgot to get chicken stock, so I used 1 cup of water and 1 packet of soy sauce. They are really good either way.

Cover the pan so that it gets nice and steamy in there. Keep covered for a few minutes. Check under the lid every couple of minutes after that. When the liquid is almost gone, you can remove the lid.

These are almost ready! When the bottoms start to get crispy again, the potstickers are finished.

They are great with hoisin sauce, but I forgot to pick some up at the store. However, sauce packet drawer surely has something that will work.

Yes! Duck sauce is great for these. Sweet and sour works too. I actually have no idea what the difference between them is.

Here's what the bottom looks like. Golden and delicious! It won't be this dark if you use chicken stock instead of the soy sauce.

And here's what the inside looks like. Ok it doesn't look that good in the photo, but it's tastes great. The dough is crispy and chewy and the ginger gives the pork a strange but yummy flavor. Good luck on your potstickers!