Potstickers (Both Vegetarian and Meat)

Two years ago, I craved potstickers after eating the terrible ones from the dining hall, so I decided to make my own, using all ingredients (except all-purpose flour) from the dining hall. It turned out so well, I've been doing it since. I will also add the meat edition of this dumpling to this post, so you meat lovers out there can enjoy. Oh! I also fry these dumplings in a way that wastes less oil.

My friend Coleen asked me to put the recipe up, after I forgot all about them while thinking about what to blog about next. She had them when I helped out her boyfriend, one of my best friends, with a surprise homemade dinner date. So here it is Coleen. Good luck!

Potstickers
Savor. Devour.

Materials:

For Vegetarian filling:

· ¾ cup baby spinach, coarsely minced

· ½ cup baby carrots, minced

· ¾ cup onion, minced

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· ½ cup jicama (if you have water chestnut, use those instead), minced

· ½ cup white mushroom (if you have shiitake, use those instead), minced

· ½ cup firm tofu, coarsely minced (I diced mine into tiny cubes)

· 1 egg, beaten

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp mushroom seasoning (or any msg substitute)

For Meat filling:

· ¾ cup onion, minced

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· ½ cup baby bamboo shoots, minced

· ½ cup chives, finely chopped

· ¾ lb ground pork

· ½ cup chicken stock

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp mushroom seasoning (or any msg substitute)

For Wrapper (you can buy round wrappers if you do not have time):

· 1 cup all purpose flour

· 1/3 cup hot water

· ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp olive oil

Procedures:

· For the wrapper, add the flour, salt, and black pepper, stir. Slowly add the water, mixing as you go. When the dough sticks together and forms a ball, stop adding water. Too much water will make the dough too sticky. If you accidentally added too much water, slowly add more flour until it reaches that soft but not too sticky consistency. Remember, you will have to roll the dough out into wrappers later. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel or cheesecloth and let it sit in room temperature.

· In the meanwhile, mix all the ingredients in the filling together. For the meat filling, slowly add the chicken stock and mix so that the meat absorbs it.

· Pinch out a palmful amount of the dough, rolling it into a long cylinder of 1” diameter. Pinch the roll at every 1 inch again. Roll each piece into a ball and using a rolling pin (or in my case the first time I made this without one, a hard but smooth plastic cup), roll the dough into a 4 inch diameter circle that resembles the store-bought wrappers. It should be relatively thin.

· Put in 1.5 tsp worth of stuffing and wrap. I wrap my dumplings by pinching the two opposite ends together and folding the dumping wrapper inwards from both sides, creating creases/folds. I pinch all this together and add a bit of water to keep the dumplings closed.

· Repeat until all wrappers and filling is gone.

· In a pan over high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the dumplings, one by one, until it covers the pan. Let these dumplings fry for about a minute and flip them so they are crispier. Let fry for another minute. (Be careful of oil splatter here) Add in ¼ cup of water, turn the heat to medium-low and let the dumplings simmer and all the water evaporate. The water steam will ensure the dumplings are fully cooked. When all the water has evaporated, add in 1/2 tbsp of oil and let the dumplings fry until it is crispy again. Serve with soy sauce (I like to mix 2 tbsp soysauce with 1 tbsp red vinegar and some crushed chilli peppers).

** If you plan to make a lot and store, there is a way to keep them from sticking to each other. Put the dumplings onto a plate, make sure they are not touching each other, and dust them lightly with flour. Place them into the freezer for 20 minutes. They will get half frozen. Place them into a bag and put back into freezer. Because they froze separately, they will not stick to each other.