Pot Stickers
We went down to the Asian market recently. I always have so much fun there- and buy so much. Stocked up on won ton wrappers. OK, I had a class on cooking with wontons but I bought a LOT more wontons than we would need for class. I’ve been having fun playing around with them. I’ll be posting pictures and recipes. Some of these are recipes from class, some are new.
Pot Stickers are called that because when the steaming liquid evaporates and they start to brown on the bottom they tend to stick to the pot. Doing them in an un- seasoned pan that does not have a non-stick coating can result in the pot stickers leaving their bottoms behind them in the pan.
Feel free to play around with fillings. I could easily have left out the meat and added chopped, cooked mushrooms for a vegetarian version.
Traditional Pot Stickers
1/2 pound ground pork- I used ground chicken
1/2 medium head cabbage, finely chopped- I used Chinese cabbage, or nappa
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 slices fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 (14 ounce) package wonton wrappers
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water- or stock
Dipping Sauce:
1 tablespoon chili oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Crumble pork into a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the pork, cabbage, green onion, ginger, water chestnuts, salt, sugar and sesame oil. Chill in the refrigerator 6 to 8 hours, or overnight. Place a tablespoon of the pork mixture into each of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wrappers, and seal the edges with a moistened fork. In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Place the pot stickers into the oil seam sides up. Heat 30 seconds to a minute. Pour water into the skillet. Gently boil 7 to 8 minutes, until oil and water begins to sizzle, and then add remaining oil. When the bottoms begin to brown, remove pot stickers from heat. In a small serving bowl, mix together the chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar, adjusting proportions to taste.