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| Potstickers
(Rob Cheng) |
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Ingredients
1.5
pounds ground turkey or pork, or chopped fresh shrimp
1 carton chopped spinach
1/2 chopped ginger
3 egg omelette, chopped
3 stalks chopped green onions
2-3 chopped dried chinese mushrooms (buy in chinese grocery -
do not use
fresh mushrooms)
8 chopped dried shrimp (buy in chinese grocery)
1-2 per gyoza frozen peas
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 sesame oil
2 Tablespoon cooking sherry
1-2 Tablespoon corn starch
Gyoza wrappers (get these in a chinese grocery, usually in freezer
case)
3-4 dashes Accent (MSG) - This can be omitted. |
Instructions
The
Filling
Chop everything as finely as possible. In particular, the ginger
and the dried shrimp. Note that both the dried shrimp and dried
mushrooms must be soaked in water a good time before chopping.
Then mix everything together except the peas and the gyoza skins.
It is very important to mix everything very well, so that each
teaspoon size mixture has about the same components. One
of the key issues in the mixture is to get the right moisture.
You want it to be reasonably moist, without it losing its consistency.
I usually always do things by feel so all of the quantities above
are just gut feel. (NOTE: This is the first time that Rob had
ever committed this to writing). If you must err, err on
it being
too moist because too dry is a disaster. Quite often the
liquid that I used for the dried shrimp and dried mushrooms, I
will add that as well if I want more moisture. I also add more
corn starch if it starts looking too soupy.
The Dumplings
The next phase is making the dumplings. Take out a small bowl
and fill with water. Take one gyoza wrapper and place in your
palm. Put one teaspoon of mixture, and one frozen pea in the center
of the wrapper. Lightly coat the outside
edge of the wrapper with water. Next press together two opposite
edges.
Next (this is the tough part to explain). From the point that
is now connected, crimp from that point down on each side pulling
the dough toward you. You might need to call me on this, because
I can't think of a good way to explain it. Another note: one big
mistake it to put too much mixture in one dumpling. Always err
on the side of less mixture per dumpling particulaly in the beginning
when you are learning to wrap them.
Cooking
To cook the dumplings, use a fry pan with a cover. Spray the fry
pan with a non stick coating such as Pam. Place the dumplings
in the pan, and fry the dumplings on medium heat until the bottoms
are brown but not burnt. Place about 1/4 to 1/8 inch of water
in the pan and cover. The pot stickers should then steam for about
4-5 minutes. Steam until all the water is gone.
Then serve. I usually just put some soy sauce in a bowl as a dipping
sauce, but my parents use a combination of vinegar and soy sauce.
I have also seen vinegar, soy sauce and ginger. It's just a matter
of personal taste.
Freezing
Pot stickers keep a long time in the freezer. The problem is that
they stick together.
Take a cookie sheet, and coat with flour. Put each potsticker
on the cookie sheet and they should not be touching. Then place
it all in the freezer for a few hours. After each potsticker has
been individually frozen, they can stored in a freezer bag.
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Parts
of this recipe are pretty hard to explain. This is a Cheng family
recipe that I have been making for many years. --Rob.
Makes 40-50 dumplings
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