Tuesday Night Supper Club--Potstickers

if i am to be honest

i would have to admit

that i could eat potstickers and dim sum

every day of the week

they are a weakness of mine

i make them by the tray-full

and keep them in the freezer

for

nights when we only want a light supper

or

to pop in a bit of chicken broth for a great soup

or

for a quick appetizer when friends stop in

they really are simple to make

and use mostly pantry friendly ingredients

Pork Potstickers
(printable recipe)

1 lb ground pork

2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger

2 tsp finely minced garlic

1 cup finely chopped mushrooms

1 tsp grated orange peel (i use a microplane)

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped carrot

1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1 scallion--finely chopped

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 Tbs light soy sauce

2 Tbs mirin or seasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp chinese chili sauce

1 tsp ponzu sauce or lemon juice

1 tsp cornstarch

 1  package ready made potsticker/dumpling skins or wonton skins cut with a cookie cutter to make round

in a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, mirin or rice vinegar, chinese chili sauce, ponzu or lemon juice and cornstarch, set aside

in a bowl, place the ginger, garlic, mushroom, orange peel, red bell pepper, carrots, spinach and scallion. mix to combine--the above photo shows how fine to chop the veggies.  add the pork, salt, pepper and egg and reserved soy sauce mixture and mix with your hands to fully combine.  

to assemble: fill a small bowl with a bit of water

place a small amount of pork mixture in the center of the dumpling wrapper and with your finger brush a bit of water around the edges

fold the wrapper in half, to form a half moon shape

make folds by tucking and pinching along the sealed edges. be careful not to overfill the dumplings

place on lined and cornstarch dusted sheet pans.  at this point you can freeze like this. once the dumplings are frozen solid, remove from the sheet pan and store long term in a freezer bag.

to cook:  you will need a bit of olive oil and about 1/2 cup of liquid...vegetable or chicken broth, or a combination of broth and water...or just water is fine too (for 10-12 potstickers).  you will also want to mix up a dipping sauce. i like to do a ratio of 3:1 light soy sauce and seasoned rice vinegar with a dash of hot chili pepper sauce.  mix and dip.

place a large skillet over medium heat.  pour in enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of the pan, you are not deep frying.  once the oil is hot, toss the potstickers--fresh or frozen into the pan...and let cook until you see the bottoms are getting brown and crispy.  at this point, toss in your liquid and shake the pan a bit to let them slide around.  there should be a good bit of liquid in the pan so that the potstickers can steam...if you need more, add more.  cover the pan and let cook until the meat is fully cooked and the dumplings are nice and supple.  Serve hot with dipping sauce.