Thursday, February 19, 2015

Chinese Potstickers with Homemade Dough


Happy Chinese New Year
and I know just
how to celebrate!

I love taking the challenge of trying
something new and unusual.


My friends, these
darling twin chefs, had made these for
us in the past (making 300 one Sunday
evening for our Neighborhood Walk and Talk)
and I finally was able to finagle the recipe
from them.  They learned this recipe
in Culinary Arts School.


What makes these different from any 
potstickers you have had before is
the homemade dough which gives 
them so much more substance.

These are a mouthful of pure joy.

The dough is super easy to whip up but
I wanted to learn how to roll them out
round so I searched online and found this
amazing couple who were whipping them
out so fast it would make your head spin.  They
are adorable - elderly - and it is the hubby who
is doing the rolling!  Mr. and Mrs. Wong - watch
how amazing he is at rolling the wrappers.

I certainly wasn't as fast as he was but I learned
to turn and roll, turn and roll, turn and roll
to get a nice round shape.


You want to cut your ingredients
into fine pieces.


It is also very important to salt your cabbage, let it sit
and then squeeze it to drain out all of the excess
moisture to make perfect potstickers.


After the dough is rolled out into a circle,
place a tablespoon or so of filling
on the center of the wrapper


then pleat one side pressing it into the
dough of the other side.  This dough is so
fresh you don't need to wet the dough to
get it to stick together.

Watch Mrs. Wong do this - almost magical,
she is so fast!  I wasn't that fast nor that perfect
but I got the hang of it!


Place the fresh potstickers into a frying pan
with a little oil on the bottom.  Add 1C. water
and bring to a boil, cover and let steam for about
10 minutes, check and add more water 1/4 C. at
a time if necessary.  Continue until the
dough is cooked through.  Remove the cover
and let the water boil off and cook until the bottoms
are crispy.


Serve immediately.
I was away from home when I made these
and I didn't want to buy a grocery cart full
of bottles to make a dipping sauce so I took
a chance on
Kikkoman's Ponzu Sauce with Lime
click here to see what the bottle looks like.
We loved the light flavor.  I thought
it was the perfect easy dipping sauce.

The kids were just asking for me to make
these again and I think I will this week!

Chinese Potstickers with Homemade Dough Recipe

Filling
1 lb. ground pork (unseasoned)
1 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, thinly chopped
1-2 eggs 

Place the cabbage in a bowl and generously
salt it - 1-2 T. salt.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  Squeeze
it to remove excess moisture.  Mix the pork, cabbage,
carrots and onions and add 1-2 eggs to bind the
mixture together.  

Dough
4 C. all purpose flour
2 C. boiling water
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix this together in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer
and knead it with the dough
hook about 10 minutes.  

Remove and cover with plastic wrap and let
sit for 30 minutes.  This is important, so don't
skip the waiting period as it allows the dough to
develop elasticity.

Cut the dough in fourths and roll one piece
into a long snake, about 1 inch in diameter.
Cover the remaining dough.  Cut the snake
into pieces about 1 inch long.  Form into
balls and roll into circles about 3 inches across.
Roll from the center out and turn, roll and turn, 
roll and turn.  Or you can roll them and cut them
with a cookie cutter if you want them perfectly
uniform.

Place a ball of filling in the center of a 
rolled out wrapper and bring the two sides
together at the top, pleating the one side and
pressing it together.

Place 1-2 T. oil in the bottom of a 10 or 12 inch
frying pan and heat, place the freshly made
potstickers in, pour about a cup of water
into the pan and bring to a boil and cover.
Reduce heat to medium and cook about 10
minutes.  Check occasionally to see that you
still have water in the pan.  Pinch off a small
piece of the dough to make sure it is cooked
and then continue to cook uncovered until
the water is evaporated and the bottoms are
crisp and golden.  

Serve immediately.  This made a big batch -
I would say at least 50.  I don't know exactly because
we kept making and eating and making and eating!

Dipping Sauce 

1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
1/2 C. soy sauce
squirt Sriracha sauce
10 drops fish sauce
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Hoisin sauce

Mix the above and serve.  You can garnish
this with sliced green onions or sesame seeds
if desired.

Or buy the Kikkoman Ponzu sauce with Lime.


Click here for a printable recipe.



Trust me on this one
SOME THINGS ARE JUST WORTH THE EFFORT!

Yum, you will want to make these again and again.

Happy Chinese New Year.
Hubby does business in China and he
will be taking off  for there in a little while but
right now they are all closed up for two weeks
while they celebrate the new year.
2015 is the year of the goat.


My sister Joni and I 
used to get together while we were
both single in college and we would try out
several Chinese dishes and create a feast for
our roommates but we never tried making our
own dough for potstickers.  These would have
been our favorites, for sure.

I will be posting these with


Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

8 comments:

  1. I love them..and how pretty are those twin chefs?
    I remember them from your housebaot?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The twins are adorable, and your pot stickers look yummy. Wish I had some for dinner!
    We had an unexpected house guest arrive in addition to friends and family in town this week. My Chinese New Year post didn't make the deadline of the official start today. Glad this celebration lasts for 15 days. ;-)

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  3. Wow those look so good! I've never had them before. We have a chinese restaurant- I should see if they have them although your recipe sounds very good and not too hard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did not make my own, but I did buy some yesterday at Costco for a gathering tonight. Does that count?😉

    ReplyDelete
  5. The twins are adorable the pot stickers are enticing! We love them! I make them with the won ton wrappers and a short-cut using the coleslaw mix and oyster sauce. Thanks for sharing a family favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've made potstickers before, but I've always used the premade wonton wrappers. These look like they'd be so much tastier! It would be a fun project with company in the kitchen. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. A couple of years ago I made home-made wraps for potstickers and loved the process too. Time-consuming yes, but so delicious! I love those twin chefs :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I will try these. Chinese New Year's came without any celebration this year. So sad. The kids reminded me that I had missed it. I usually make Lemon Chicken. These look wonderful. Trader Joes also has a good sauce for Potstickers. Joni

    ReplyDelete

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