Potstickers are cantonese style dumplings, and they fall into the broader catagory of Jiaozi. While jiaozi are stuffed dumplings which can be steamed, boiled, pan fried, deep fried, or simmered in soup, potstickers are specifically steamed and then pan fried.
I’ve blogged about cooking them before, but did not provide a recipe, so this time I will. This blog entry combines photos from the previous blog entry, plus newer ones to illustrate the process.
You’ll need
mixing bowl
steaming rack
wok with a dome cover
1/2 lb (500g) minced pork
small head of napa cabbage (aka sui choy)
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 small onion, finely chopped
package of dumpling wrappers
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp soy
salt and pepper for seasoning
a few drops of sesame oil
cooking oil
method:
- soak the dried mushrooms in water for several hours, or overnight
- squeeze out the moisture from the rehydrated mushrooms, then finely dice
- finely dice the onion
- finely shred the napa cabbage
- pan sear the napa cabbage in the wok over high heat with a tablespoon of water for 30 seconds (just until it wilts), then set aside in the transfer plate. Once it cools, squeeze out any excess water and add the cabbage to the mixing bowl
- add some oil saute the onions in the wok over medium heat until translucent (about a minute), then set aside to the mixing bowl.
- add the napa cabbage, ground pork, salt, pepper, sesame oil, sugar, grated ginger to the mixing bowl and mix to combine.
- now we stuff the dumplings
- dab your finger with water, and wet the outer edge (about 1 cm) of the wrapper
- spoon about 2 teaspoons of pork/cabbage filling into the center of the wrapper.
- fold the outer “corner” of the wrapper over until the wet surface of the wrappers touch, and them pinch them together like this
- pinch two “wings” the same side of the wrapper like this
- seal the remaining edges of the wrapper, and then fold the wings down and pinch them tight
- do the same with the remaining dumplings, there should be enough filling for about 3-4 dozen dumplings
- then we cook them, start by placing a few of them in the steamer basket (I’m steaming them atop of a leaf of lettuce to prevent them from sticking to the steamer rack)
- steam in the wok, covered with the dome lid for about 10 minutes
- then pan sear in the non stick pan with a table spoon of cooking oil
- sear on one side over medium heat for about 3 minutes (until it browns) then flip them over and sear on the other side for the same amount of time.
- serve
- you can eat them as is, or with a dipping sauce. A typical dipping sauce might include black rice vinegar with slivers of fresh ginger. My favorite dipping sauce combines black vinegar, soy, a little sugar, a few drops sesame oil, and some chili sauce (this combines sweet, salty, sour and spicy)
Note:
- Ideally you want pork with a higher fat content (otherwise it ends up dry and mealy). While ground pork from the butcher shop is acceptable, the best texture is derived from hand chopped pork shoulder.
- you can freeze and store any uncooked dumplings.
- as mentioned in the previous blog post, potstickers have some very close cousins in the form of Japanese gyoza, and Korean mandu. To create mandu, add tofu and replace the nappa cabbage with kimchi. To create gyoza, remove the sugar and the dried mushrooms, and add crushed garlic. Also the method for cooking gyoza is a little different, instead of steaming and then pan-frying, you would pan -fry until browned on one-side, and then steam by adding water to the hot frying pan.
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