potstickers

One Sunday afternoon (a very lucky one) my friend Janet brought over a plate of potstickers for us to cook up.  My kids were so excited they had a hard time waiting for our next meal!  Janet went to a lot of work to make these but you could certainly take shortcuts (like I plan to).  Whereas Janet ground the pork herself and made the wrappers herself (I was in awe when I found out) you could buy the pork already ground and the wrappers.  She said there are plenty of You Tube videos that demonstrate how to wrap them.  I'll just ask my daughter how; she learned at Activity Days.  Warning:  they DO stick to the pan!

potstickers (my friend Janet adapted it from epicurious)
1/2 pound fatty ground pork
1/4 pound cabbage, steamed, drained and minced
1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chile-garlic sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar, not seasoned
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of white pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems
3 tablespoons finely chopped flowering chives, flat Chinese chives or scallions
24 to 30 round dumpling wrappers, preferably with egg

Combine all ingredients (except cilantro stems, chives and wrappers) in a large bowl then stir in cilantro stems and chives.  Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice to keep chilled while forming dumplings.  Place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling in center of a wrapper and moisten area around filling with water.  Fold in half to form a crescent and press to seal.  Moisten one corner and bring corners together, pressing them to form a tortellini-shaped dumpling.  Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.
Janet's cooking instructions:  Put some oil in a pan and place the potstickers in a pan.  Fill with water until potstickers and half covered with water.  Cook until water evaporates.  (I flipped mine in the pan which is why they were browned on all sides).


Zy