Potstickers – For When You Can’t Decide Between Fried and Steamed Dumplings

Potstickers (or Pot Stickers, depending on which style guide you’re using) are very fast and easy to make, unless you only do them once or twice a year, in which case they’re going to take a little bit of time to fold and shape. 

Just for fun, find a video that shows professionals doing these, and marvel at how they come together in seconds. That's what happens when you do hundreds each day, for years.

Having said that, every second spent producing these, is a second well spent. The play between the crispy, crusty bottom, and the tender parts, makes for a truly unique dumpling. They’re also very versatile, since you can fill them with anything you want. No matter what you use, you’ll know exactly what you’re biting into, which is not always the case when you get these out.

Don’t get me wrong; I love the occasional take-out binge, and its associated mysteries. But, it’s nice being able to control the contents, as well as the generosity of the filling. There is nothing worse than biting into one of these, and realizing it’s only half-full. So, for all those reasons, and more, I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

One production note: While I’ve made these many times, I’ve never actually measured the ingredients before, so I ended up with extra filling. So, I’ve increased the dough amounts from what I used in the video. Instead of getting 24 wrappers, you should get more like 32 (cutting each quarter dough into 8, instead of 6 portions), which should be a better match. Of course this depends on exactly how much you fill, but it should be close.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 pound ground pork

4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

3 tablespoons very finely minced ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

pinch cayenne

1 1/2 cups finely chopped green cabbage

For the dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup hot water (about 130-150 F.)

For the dipping sauce:

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

Optional: You can spike dipping sauce with things like hot sauce, garlic, minced green onions, ginger, etc.

Categories: Appetizer, Asian Cuisine, Pork