Potstickers (Vegetarian and Carnivorous)

I love potstickers. 

They are ravioli under another guise.
Agnolotti without the cheese. 
Pierogi without the potato.
Shui mai sealed with a kiss.

I imagine if I spent some time wandering through centuries of recipes from various countries every one of them would have a simple dough filled with meat or vegetable filling that are then either fried or steamed. Such a simple way to stretch a small amount of protein or vegetable, perhaps even leftovers into something worthy of its own title and status. 

Sure I have a recipe for dough and yes, I could have spent time making my own potsticker dough and rolling it out ultra thin, making perfect squares to fill, but in the interest of time and keeping 14 year old girls happy and busy we used the perfectly acceptable alternative; store-bought wonton wrappers. 
We didn't even bother pleating the edges.  Nope.  Just filled and folded, filled and folded.
We made a nice dipping sauce of soy, mirin, sesame oil and sliced scallion and cooked both the vegetarian version and the pork version in both the bamboo steamer, on layers of lettuce so they would not stick, as well as in a large frying pan with a lid. Just keep the amount of filling you use to a reasonable amount so they won't burst, perhaps 1 TBS per wrapper and be sure to seal your edges very well.  We used water, but you could also use an egg wash as well.

Again I apologise for the lack of photos here, but these girls were hungry!  As fast as I could get them steamed fried and steamed the plates were cleaned out.

Potstickers
6 ounces ground pork
1 cup napa cabbage, shredded
3 TBS fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 TBS garlic, finely chopped
1 TBS rice Wine
1 TBS oyster Sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
3 TBS scallions, finely chopped
1 TBS sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 batch of dipping Sauce
1.     Combine all ingredients.
2.     Place a small amount of filling in each wonton wrapper and seal using water.
3.     Keep wrappers under a damp cloth or plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
4.     Place 3 TBS oil in sauté pan.
5.     Sear potstickers on one side until nicely browned. Single sided is traditional, but you can brown the second side if you wish.
6.     Add ¼ cup (or less) of water to the pan and put the lid on.
7. Steam for 3 – 5 minutes to cook the filling.

Alternate Cooking method: Steam in a bamboo steamer for 8 minutes once the water has come to a boil.

Vegetarian Potstickers
2 cups Chinese napa cabbage; finely minced
1 tsp salt
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice wine, plus up to 1 tbs additional, if needed
1 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
8 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in hot water 20 mins, stems discarded
1 tbs safflower or corn oil
1 1/2 c minced leeks
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 c finely shredded carrot

Combine everything and mix well.

2 packages wonton wrappers

Canola Oil for frying

Dipping sauce to accompany

1.     Combine all ingredients.
2.     Place a small amount of filling in each wonton wrapper and seal using water.
3.     Keep wrappers under a damp cloth or plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
4.     Place 3 TBS oil in sauté pan.
5.     Sear potstickers on one side until nicely browned. Single sided is traditional, but you can brown the second side if you wish.
6.     Add ¼ cup (or less) of water to the pan and put the lid on.
7.     Steam for 3 – 5 minutes to cook the filling.

Alternate Cooking method: Steam in a bamboo steamer for 8 minutes once the water has come to a boil.

food food and drink vegetarian recipes

Comments

[Brian]

Every time I make potstickers, I start out with good intentions and pleat the edges of the first half-dozen or so, but invariably I end up saying "to hell with it" and do the rest plain.

[Christiane]

I'm such a huge fan of potstickers, and I almost always cheat and use the wonton skins. Love the veg recipe though!