Makes 30 to 35
This dish will serve eight to ten people as an appetizer or four or five as a main dish accompanied by a hearty soup such as sweet-and-sour soup. Pot-sticker wraps are sold in some Oriental markets, but I often substitute a double layer of the thinner, round wonton skins (also called pasta wraps) available in the produce section of many grocery stores.
Traditionally, pot stickers are served with bowls of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and Chinese chili oil so that diners can dip them before eating.
- 1/3 pound lean ground pork
- ¾ cup finely slivered Chinese or green Savoy cabbage
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh garlic chive or Chinese leek flower leaves
- 1 to 1½ tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 sixteen-ounce package of pot-sticker wraps, or 1 twelve-ounce package of round wonton skins, thawed if frozen
- 3 to 4 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
- 1½ to 2 cups unsalted or reduced-sodium chicken stock
- Lightly brown the pork in a small nonstick skillet. Place the pork, cabbage, chives, ginger, cilantro, sherry, soy sauce, hot sauce and egg in a medium bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate the filling if you’re not ready to make the pot stickers.
- Place a pot-sticker wrap on a clean work surface. Leave the rest in the package or cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out. (Double wonton skins: lay one on a counter, dampen the entire surface with water with your fingertip, then lay a second skin on top of it and press the two wraps lightly together.) Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in a crescent in the middle of each wrap. Dip a finger in water and run it along the edge of the wrap. Fold the wrap in half. Pinch the dough along the seam (or form it in the traditional way by pinching it at the midpoint, then making three pleats on each side that lean toward the midpoint, pinching each pleat). Place the folded dumplings on a cookie sheet, leaving space between them. If not cooking the filled dumplings immediately, refrigerate for up to two hours.
- You’ll probably need to cook the dumplings in two batches. Heat a large nonstick frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of the oil, and tilt the pan to distribute the oil evenly. Place a single layer of pot stickers (about fifteen) in the pan. Sauté them over medium heat for a minute or so until lightly browned. Off heat, add chicken stock to one-third the height of the pot stickers. Return the pan to medium heat, cover, and cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until the stock has evaporated. Remove the cover and continue to cook until the bottoms of the pot stickers are again brown, watching carefully. Turn them over and lightly brown the second side. Transfer to a warm serving plate and serve while warm with the dipping sauces mentioned above. Cook the second batch in the same manner.
Rosalind Creasy is an herb gardener and landscape designer in Los Altos, California, and the author of many books. Her most recent is Herbs: A Country Garden Cookbook, written with Carole Saville.
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