Potstickers, & a Video on How To Fold Them

On the 10 year anniversary of this little blog, we have come full circle. Here I am again, posting a recipe for potstickers - my first ever post was about potstickers. Maybe it means that in fact in 10 years I've gone absolutely nowhere with this. The pictures are better though, and my pleats are pretty great so if that's all the progress I've made then I'll take it.

Potstickers are a big part of my life. My freezer always has a bag, and I am forever experimenting with new flavours. We don't veer too far away from pork, because mmm pork, and my favourite so far have been the soup dumplings, from 2016. 

I love wontons equally, as is evidenced by a snapshot look at my instagram account and I strongly believe that there isn't a hangover that can't be at least slightly quelled by these tiny parcels of joy.  The intimidating part is the folding, and I would recommend starting with shop-bought wrappers for quick and easy while you get those fiddly pleats sorted out. 

Here's a video of me showing you how to fold them and cook them (don't worry, my face isn't in it). For this recipe, I partnered with Chinatown London, and you can try these for yourself, if you don't want to make them, in restaurants all over Chinatown. My favourite places are Jen Cafe and Dumplings Legend.  

Once you get that down, get going on rolling your own wrappers. They are worth it. Here's a recipe that makes a bunch; it's best to make too many and freeze them on a floured plate as you can easily cook them from frozen. 

TIPS! With pre-made wrappers:

Have a piece of kitchen roll or a clean j-cloth to hand, that is damp. This is so you can press the wrapper face down onto it before you stuff it, to help stick the pleats. 

Make sure you squeeze the pleats shut - dampen your finger when doing so if they're being a bit dry. 

This is a pretty standard base recipe; from here you can start adding things. Sometimes I take out spring onions and add finely minced Chinese chives. In the springtime, I add blanched, minced wild garlic. I really like diced water chestnut too for some secret crunch, and I like experimenting with flavours like celery, or fennel seed. Tofu fillings also work well, though be sure to squeeze out moisture and st

POTSTICKERS

60gr fatty minced pork

4 napa cabbage leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp oyster sauce

5cm piece of ginger, grated and soaked in 1 tbsp water

3 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated

1 tbsp light soy

½ tbsp sugar

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 packet of dumpling wrappers (white, round)

1 tbsp oil

Water, to hand

DIPPING SAUCE:

Soy sauce

Chilli oil

Black vinegar

Slivered ginger

Pinch of sugar

Salt the cabbage and set in a sieve over the sink while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Mix the pork in one direction with the oyster sauce, sugar, light soy, spring onions. Squeeze the ginger in the water and add the water only. Mix well until formed into a paste. Rinse the cabbage, squeeze all the moisture out well, and add to the pork mixture. 

Set out a clean dampened j-cloth or damp couple of pieces of kitchen roll. Press the dumpling wrapper into the moist, then add a tsp filling. Pleat, set aside to cook. To cook, heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil in a non-stick pan, then place the dumplings flat bottom side down in the oil. Fry for 3 minutes, add 50ml water and the lid, and steam for 2 minutes. Remove the lid and evaporate the water on a medium heat, making sure the bottoms aren’t burning.

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Combine sauce ingredients to dip the dumplings in.

(Disclosure: This is a paid partnership for me to develop the recipe and cook it in the video. All views and words are my own)