Wednesday, February 10, 2010

First-time Potstickers Demo and Recipe

This Sunday is Chinese New Year (go tigers!) so I thought I’d post a video of a Chinese dish. Potstickers are one of my favorite things to order at restaurants but I’ve never made them at home. My mom never made them either; she only taught me how to make won tons. But we loved eating potstickers, which we call “wor teep” in Cantonese.

Potstickers aren’t necessarily a traditional new year dish, but some families do like to serve them because they look like money and the Chinese love to think about money for the new year – and the kids love em too (potstickers that is, although kids love money I guess).

I’ve seen chefs demonstrating how to make potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese) and it always looked so easy. So here’s my video, when I make potstickers for the very first time. Check it out to see how they turn out on my very first try. And then make some for your family this lunar new year. Enjoy! (BTW, I apologize for sounding so dead in the first few minutes of the video. And I don't know what's happening in that frozen image of the video clip below! Damn you YouTube!)



Pork-Leek Potstickers

Copyright 2010 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground pork
1 large leek, rinsed and diced (about 2-3 cups)
1/2 cup water chestnuts, finely diced
2-3 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and finely diced
3 T soy sauce
1 T Xiao Hsing rice wine or cooking sherry (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 package potsticker wrappers (50 count)

Combine and blend well all the ingredients (except the wrappers) to make the filling. Then fold your potstickers by placing a wrapper in one hand and using a spoon to scoop about a tablespoon of filling into the wrapper.

Create an egg wash with one egg and a bit of water. Use the egg wash to help seal your potsticker by dabbing the egg wash on the edge of the wrapper.

After you placed the filling and egg wash, fold over to create a half moon. Then crimp your potsticker from the middle, pinching three times along one side then doing the same from the middle on the other side. (The pinching is like your folding a bit of the edge over each other. This helps shape your potsticker more like a half moon.) Make sure you have a flat bottom.

In a non-stick saucepan with cover, warm about 2 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Place your potstickers to brown the bottom for about 2-3 minutes, depending on the heat of your stovetop. Don’t move your potstickers. Pour about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water and immediately cover pan because the oil will splatter.

Cook covered for 8 to 10 minutes. To make sure your potstickers are done, cut one open to check. If the water dries out before your potstickers are cooked, add a bit more water. If the potstickers are done but you still have a lot of water, pour the water out.

When your potstickers are cooked and water is nearly evaporated, cook for another minute uncovered to allow the potstickers to get crispy on the bottom again. But watch to make sure you don’t blacken your potstickers.

Freeze any potstickers you don’t cook. When you take them out from the freezer, you may need to cook them a couple of minutes longer.

Plate your potstickers and serve with a dipping sauce like red rice wine vinegar.

Makes 50 potstickers.

TIP: When buying potsticker wrappers, it’ll be in the refrigerated section of the Asian grocery store or Asian food aisle of the market. The wrappers are round and are labeled either potstickers or gyoza. You can also use leftover potsticker wrappers to make ravioli.

View more videos:
Spam, the Sequel: Fried Rice
Dinner Fast: Black Bean Clams
Making Won Tons

17 comments:

foodhoe said...

how funny, I bought a package of wrappers recently intending to make gyoza, but ended up cutting them up and frying them for an asian coleslaw! Now you have me craving dumplings again...

Hungry Dog said...

Nice job, Ben! Although I can't watch the video b/c my work computer is a piece of junk. I'll check it out at home. Anyway, back to the potstickers. They look awesome. I've made them before and they are a bit of work but definitely worth it. My family's recipe calls for Napa cabbage which is what takes a long time--cooking it and squeezing it out.

Sean said...

This looks and sounds absolutely delicious.

JulieK said...

Cool! Thanks, though I don't get how they look like money.... :0)

Carolyn Jung said...

I used to make pot stickers and gyoza with my Mom when I was a teen. I remember, the two of us, and my Dad at times, sitting around the kitchen table, filling each and every one of them. When they emerged from the pan all steamy and crispy, I could barely wait for them to cool off before I just had to bite into one. They remain one of my favorite tastes -- even years later.

Ammie said...

Everyone loves potstickers! Potstickers are so easy, and you can put anything inside -- having a potsticker party where people bring their own fillings is great fun.

Single Guy Ben said...

Hungry Dog, I think I'm going to make it with Napa cabbage next time.

Julie, it looks like the old-style Chinese ingots you see if you watch old Chinese martial arts movies. ;-)

Esther said...

Nice video!

I recently made dumplings for the first time with friends and it was so much fun! Some of my friends are expert at shaping them beautifully. :)

Anonymous said...

Cool! I just had store bought frozen gyoza. You've inspired me to make my own. Thanks! Hey, did you know you just showed your face:)

Single Guy Ben said...

LOL. I know, I can't avoid it when I post a video. Hopefully no one will recognize me when I'm eating out, do you think? ;-)

James said...

Very nice tutorial, Ben - masterful move with the water chestnuts, and I love the general approach of throwing in whatever you feel like eating. I would have included some ginger, garlic and rice wine vinegar myself :)

I hope your next dumpling post involves making wrappers from scratch!

Mrs. L said...

Your potstickers look so much better than any I've ever tried to make. I'll have to have the video going next time I try to make some.

Unknown said...

A great recipe, many thanks.

Here is a pic of my results. I used chicken stock for the steaming and it gave it a very nice glossy crispy bottom as the stock reduced.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/digicasts/sets/72157623649760420/

Single Guy Ben said...

Good job Sam! And smart idea using chicken broth for steaming for some added flavor.

Anonymous said...

Pork goes better with ginger, chicken goes better with the mushrooms. Too much leek covers the flavor of the meat, and the leeks should be sweated a bit in the pan before you put them in the filling. and don't use soy sauce and liquor unless you are using lesser grade pork and you need to mask the paleness of the meat and not so fresh taste. To make the best potstickers, HAVE YOUR BUTCHER GRIND YOUR PORK THERE, DON'T USE GROUND PORK THAT HAS BEEN SITTING THERE FOR TOO LONG ALREADY!!

Single Guy Ben said...

Thanks Anonymous. Those are some pretty good tips!

sheila @ Elements said...

Awesome video!! Thanks so much for showing us how to do it! I'm going to try to do it, but I want to make my own dough. Wish me luck! :) Cheers! sheila