Description
A step-by-step guide to making authentic Chinese potstickers at home. They also make a wonderful, healthy freezer meal for a whole family.
Ingredients
Scale
For the potsticker filling:
- 1 pound ground pork (80% lean)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 pound celery, ends trimmed and very finely chopped (about 4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
For the potstickers:
- 40 large potsticker (dumpling) wrappers, about 3-inch diameter
- 1 cup water
For cooking the potstickers:
- Extra-virgin olive oil or other good-quality cooking oil
- Water
For the dipping sauce:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon hot chili oil or sesame oil
- Chopped green onions for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground pork, ginger, Chinese wine, light soy sauce, cornstarch, and brown sugar. Mix until all ingredients are evenly combined. Don’t overdo it. Set aside.
- Place prepared celery in another bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and combine. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to draw out the liquid from the celery. Wrap the celery in a cheesecloth and squeeze out as much water as possible.
- Add the drained celery to the pork mixture, followed by another half teaspoon of salt and olive oil. Mix well.
- Now, wrap the potstickers. Place a heaping tablespoon or so of filling onto the center of a potsticker wrapper.
- Holding the wrapper flat on the palm of one hand, dip the thumb and index finger of your other hand into a bowl of water, and then begin pinching the edges of the wrapper together. Move across the wrapper, connecting and sealing the edges of the circle. You should be able to form a seam that is ½ inch or so. If you have too much filling, the seam won’t hold—you may need to practice and make a couple of adjustments. The end result should be a pleasantly plump, slightly crescent-shaped potsticker that sits up smartly.
- To cook the potstickers, heat a large skillet (flat-bottom and nonstick) or a cast- iron skillet over high heat until hot. Add enough cooking oil to coat the entire bottom of your pan, followed by the potstickers in one single layer, leaving some space between each one, flat side down. (Cook in batches.)
- Pour some water over the top of the potstickers, allowing the water line to climb up to about one inch from the bottom of the pan. Cover with a lid immediately.
- Bring to a boil and continue cooking, allowing most of the water to be cooked off, about 2 minutes.
- Uncover, switch to medium heat; continue cooking until the water is completely evaporated and the bottom of the potstickers are golden brown.
- Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Serve the potstickers hot with the dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cabbage can be substituted for celery, and that doesn’t require water content extraction. You can add all filling ingredients in one bowl and mix together all at once.
- If using napa cabbage, I recommend using only the leafy part for less water content.
- Other filling ideas include shrimp potstickers or vegetarian potstickers with shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, etc. Get creative!
