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

Foodie Friday