Forevermamas Authentic Pot Stickers Northern Chinese Recipes

PERFECT POT STICKERS

Steps:

• Place ground pork, green onions, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce, sesame oil, and cayenne in a mixing bowl. Top with chopped green cabbage. Mix with fork until thoroughly combined. Tamp down lightly; cover with plastic. Refrigerate until chilled, about an hour.
• Place flour and kosher salt in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in hot water. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a shaggy dough. Flour your hands and transfer dough to a work surface. Knead dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. If dough seems too sticky, sprinkle with a bit more flour, about 3 to 5 minutes. Wrap dough ball in plastic, and let it rest about 30 minutes.
• When dough has rested, divide into 4 equal pieces. Cover 3 pieces with a dish cloth while you work the first piece. Roll into a small log about the thickness of a thumb, about 3/4 inch. Divide each log into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a thin 3 1/2-inch circle on a lightly floured surface to form the pot sticker wrappers. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
• Lightly moisten the edges of a wrapper with your wet finger. Place a small scoop of the ground pork mixture onto the center of a wrapper. Fold up the 2 sides and pinch together in the center. Pinch together the remaining edges, forming "pleats" along one side. Tap the pot sticker on the work surface to slightly flatten the bottom; form a slight curve in it so it stands upright in the pan. Transfer to a well-floured plate. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Mix together seasoned rice vinegar and soy sauce in a small mixing bowl for the dipping sauce.
• Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Place about 6 or 7 pot stickers in the hot oil, flat side down. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drizzle in water and quickly cover the pan; steam for 3 minutes. Uncover; reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking until water evaporates and bottoms are browned and crunchy, 1 or 2 minutes. Transfer to a warm serving dish. Repeat with remaining pot stickers. Serve with dipping sauce.

POT STICKERS TRADITIONAL

Steps:

• Crumble pork into a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the pork, cabbage, green onion, ginger, water chestnuts, salt, sugar and sesame oil. Chill in the refrigerator 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
• Place a tablespoon of the pork mixture into each of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wrappers, and seal the edges with a moistened fork.
• In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Place the pot stickers into the oil seam sides up. Heat 30 seconds to a minute. Pour water into the skillet. Gently boil 7 to 8 minutes, until oil and water begins to sizzle, then add remaining oil. When the bottoms begin to brown, remove pot stickers from heat.
• In a small serving bowl, mix together the chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar, adjusting proportions to taste.

FOREVERMAMA'S AUTHENTIC POT STICKERS (NORTHERN CHINESE)

Steps:

• Combine the pork (or chicken), cabbage, rice wine, soy sauce, salt, pepper, scallions, sesame oil, sugar and stock. Mix well and set aside.
• Once you remove wrappers from its packaging, keep them covered with a damp dish towel (this will prevent them from drying out -- they need to remain moist for a successful result).
• Place 4 wrappers at a time on a work surface. Place about 1 teaspoons of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold in half. Moisten the edges with water and pinch together with your fingers, making sure there are no open gaps. Pleat around edges, pinching to seal well.
• Transfer the dumplings to a floured sheet pan and keep covered with a damp towel until you have finished stuffing all the dumplings.
• Heat a large skillet over high heat until it is hot. Add the peanut oil (you may need to use more than 1 T) and place the dumplings, flat side down in the pan. Turn down the heat and cook about 2 minutes or until they are lightly browned (you do not need to turn these over). (You may need 2 skillets). Add the 2/3 cup of water; cover the pan tightly and cook for 10-15 minutes over low heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Uncover the pan and continue cooking another 2 minutes. Remove the dumplings to a serving platter and serve with the Dipping Sauce.
• Dipping Sauce:.
• Mix all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning and correct if necessary. (The amounts given are approximate, as I normally eye-ball it).
• NOTE: Though the authentic recipe uses pork, I have used chicken breast as well which I ran through the food processor.
• The serving size of 4-5 is approximate because it all depends if you serve this as an appetizer versus a main meal.

POT STICKER DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix ingredients and serve with Chiao Tzu (Pot Stickers).