Pork Potstickers

These are a favorite of ours to make -- thanks to Ryan who served his mission in Japan. He calls them Gyoza. Since they are steamed dumplings, doesn't that make them healthier than say, an egg roll? I'll stop trying to justify. I'm pregnant and they're good.

Ingredients:

4 med dried shitake mushrooms (I use any mushroom I have)

1 lb lean ground pork

1/3 c finely chopped cabbage (I like Napa)

1/4 c green onions, chopped

1 T wine (or vinegar)

1 T water

1 t cornstarch

1 t salt

dash white pepper

1 t sesame oil

(we've also been playing around with adding garlic, no cabbage, but more onions, silken tofu, and hoisen sauce -- we're still perfecting to our taste but this is still a good combo) moral: don't be afraid to add and subtract whatever you want, sometimes I feel like putting shredded carrots in!

Mix and put a small spoonful in gyoza wrappers (we like the round ones but you can use the square ones too) Line egde of wrap with water, squish out the extra air and fold edges so they are pretty.

Traditionally: here's where you heat 2 T oil in wok, place dumplings in single layer (will probably have to do in batches) Fry 2 min. 'til bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 c. water and cover. Cook another 6-7 min 'til absorbed.

We saw something interesting on the food network -- a restaurant prepares their dumplings this way: Here are the dumplings all folded and ready to cook:

Then we boiled them in water, for just a few minutes -- until they float or look a little transparent

then we browned the bottoms in a tiny bit of oil -- to give them the potsticker look, feel, taste.

Such cute little bundles:

Even though this isn't the traditional way potstickers are done -- it went much faster and it seemed less tempermental. You can also do them in larger batches (hence the faster-ness)


Ingredients for dipping sauce:

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c water

2 T soy sauce

2 T rice wine vinegar

2 T ketchup

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t sesame oil

1-2 t garlic and red chile paste (can add more for more heat)

or you can just dip in soy if you'd rather, or a mixture of soy, brown sugar and vinegar. But we like this copy of PF Chang's the best