Sunday, January 30, 2011

Chinese New Year

My first of these posts were going to start on Tuesday when the festival starts, but this was too good not to share right away.

Also my deepest apologies for not posting for a few weeks, the pipes under my sink had exploded after many years of not being happy. So it halted any cooking and thus no pictures to share with my recipes. But crisis is averted!

So here is my Pot Sticker Recipe, I picked it up when doing a search on pot stickers and what filling was normally used. I like using a slew of ideas to help flesh out any recipe I make and then mold it to my own tastes.






Pot Stickers

Ingredients: 

Dumpling Dough
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup hot water
 Filling:
  • 1 head Napa Cabbage [about 4c chopped]
  • salt
  • 1 pound lean ground pork
  • 2-3 finely chopped green onions
  • 1 TB white wine
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Pepper
Dipping Sauce:
  • teriyaki [or light soy sauce]
  • grated ginger



Preparation:

Cut the cabbage into thin strips. Mix with 2 teaspoons salt and steam in a hot pan until just wilted, set aside to cool before mixing with pork.

In a large bowl, mix the celery cabbage, pork, green onions, wine, cornstarch, sesame oil, and pepper. It will come together as a rather glutenous looking mass, use your hands for the best mixture to incorporate everything, let sit covered for about 1/2 hr before using.

In a bowl, mix the flour and hot water using the back of a wooden spoon, only using your hands when all of the water is absorbed by the flour [be warned it is very hot, so be gentle!]. Knead the dough on a lightly flour surface about 5 minutes, or until smooth.

Divide the dough in half, wrapping up half of the dough while you work with the other. Roll the dough into a long rope [about 12" in length] and cut into 1/2" circles.

Roll 1 slice of dough into a 3-inch circle and place about 1 tablespoon pork mixture in the center of the circle. Lift up the edges of the circle and pinch 5 pleats up to create a pouch to encase the mixture. Pinch the top together. Repeat with the remaining slices of dough and filling.

Heat a wok or nonstick skillet until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, tilting the wok to coat the sides. If using a nonstick skillet, add 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil. Place 12 dumplings in a single layer in the wok and fry 2 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Add 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook 6 to 7 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

To make a dipping sauce, in a small bowl, mix the teriyaki with 1 teaspoon of grated ginger. Serve with the dumplings.
 
NOTE
You can freeze the uncooked dumplings to cook later on, for best results freeze on a baking sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag. This way they will not stick together, and cook right from frozen.






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