I have some ground pork and a hankering for potstickers. What should I put in 'em besides ginger, garlic, and chives? Please give me your potsticker wisdom.
Hungry Celeste
Apr 23, 2007 08:43AM
Who's Talking?
Create and share lists of your favorite lunch spots, favorite local eats, dream road trip and more!
Create a new
list now!
CHOW Pick, posted July 02, 2009
Food Media, posted July 02, 2009
Green, posted June 23, 2009
Wine and Drinks, posted April 24, 2009
I use a slight variation on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I love it!!! I make a big batch and freeze them - having them for dinner tonight!
4 oz ground pork
1/2 Napa cabbage, shredded (2 c)
1 t salt
1 scallion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T soy sauce
2 t toasted sesame seeds
2 t sesame oil
pinch cayenne
wonton wrappers
(this recipe doesn't use ginger, but that would be a great addition)
Mix. Fill wrappers. Shape into cute little dumplings. (cook of course) Enjoy!
Permalink | Reply
my mom's version - soft tofu with really sour cabbage kimchi and maybe some pork
Permalink | Reply
Chopped green onions, snap peas or pea pods, spinach, water chestnuts, a few splashes of dry sherry, chopped crimini, shrimp meat, tamari, and toasted sesame oil . . . I might add too a little lo-salt chicken bouillion to the filling for extra flavor. Also, I keep some ginger stored in sherry, so the ginger I use has more oomph.
Permalink | Reply
non-veg-- similar to laurenandlewis
veg- broccoli/ginger, with a little scallion and minced napa cabbage, drop of sesame oil and tamari
Permalink | Reply
Ginger, garlic. chives--perfect. What else? Really overwork the ground pork first, making it into a paste. Sounds bad, tastes good.
Permalink | Reply
Overwork the pork, yes. It holds together better for those two critical bites in the middle of the dumpling where you want to get all that dipping sauce.
Napa cabbage / pork are classic main bullking ingredients, but if you don't have napa, you can use regular cabbage leaves finely finely chopped. I do mine in the food processor to get them really tiny.
Permalink | Reply
Thanks for the over-working tip....makes sense. Now for a freezing question: if I make tons of them, can I just spread 'em out on a cookie sheet to freeze, then bag? Or should I parboil first (seems like the dough will be all flabby on defrosting, right?)
Permalink | Reply
Yes, freeze first.
Permalink | Reply
Thanks, Sam. I have a couple pounds of ground pork, so I will be churning out more than I can eat in a couple of days. I just wish I could fold/pleat like a pro. I try, but I am probably several thousand potstickers' practice short of "good".
Permalink | Reply
Wax paper as a buffer on the cookie sheet for stick-free removal after freezing.
Purists and firm advocates of hand-crimping may wince at the following, but if you want to get into mass production of these puppies (and they lend themselves well to it), try a dumpling press, such as at the following link. At first glance they seem like prosthetic dental appliances for the entire caries-ridden family, but a press makes fast work of closing the dumplings up.
http://www.pastrychef.com/Catalog/dum...
Permalink | Reply
I went with pork, lots of fresh ginger, plenty of garlic, lots of chopped garlic chives, and a touch of soy. Massaged all that into the pork by hand, then filled & pleated by hand. Delicious, but even after repeated handwashing/soaking, I am still rather fragrant today. The wax paper tip was great, too. Now I have a big bag of frozen dumplings ready for weeknights.
Permalink | Reply
Yes - it is so great to have homemade dumplings after a long day! We had the last of ours this week (after you posted, it made me hungry). A word of caution, however - like all things frozen, they don't last forever.
Permalink | Reply
agree on the pork over work-I put into the mini processor until it is pasty-also like to add some oyster sauce and a dash of vinegar and wine and finely chopped water chestnuts
Permalink | Reply
Pork-cilantro
Pork-green pepper
Pork with shelled and chopped shrimp
Scrambled egg and chive.
And, for a breakfast treat,
Scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheddar, dipped in maple syrup
A little cornstarch or potatostarch water added to pork based fillings helps them stay together.
Permalink | Reply
what, no black pepper in these recipes?
I love black pepper in these . . .
Permalink | Reply
I made some just last night! A lot of work (I make the dough from scratch and roll out all the little rounds by hand... yeah, obsessive much?) but worth it.
Filling:
equal parts finely-chopped pork and roughly-chopped shrimp
nappa cabbage
finely slivered ginger and garlic
touch of cilantro
oyster sauce, sesame oil
wee bit of tapioca starch in a little water
(no amounts, I just do enough for a small mixing bowl)
Dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup boiling water
Mix with a wooden spoon until cool enough to handle, then knead on a floured board until smooth, firm, and elastic. One knob of dough the size of a small gumball makes one good-sized dumpling wrapper. Yields about 18.
Permalink | Reply
OMG....you are the best...I would never do that!!
Permalink | Reply