Potstickers are also known as Chinese dumplings or gyoza. They’re crispy on the outside and have a juicy filling on the inside. When you eat them, you’ve to be careful not to accidentally burn yourself on the juices.
In Chinese or Taiwanese New Year, potstickers or dumplings are a must. They represent wealth, and since they’re in the shape of a gold ingot (meaning money), eating them means that you’ll be full of wealth in the New Year.
If you want to try Japanese Gyoza, you can check out my other post on Japanese GYOZA.
Potsticker Recipe.
Potstickers Fillings The most common vegetables eaten are cabbage, Nappa cabbage, carrots, and Chinese chives. The meat inside is mostly minced pork, minced beef, but also minced lamb. Today we prepare the simplest and quickest version. The ingredients, that’s the combination of cabbage and minced pork.
You can also make more of them and freeze them for 3-6 months. You can make them right away when you want to eat them.
They are pan-fried and then steamed so they’re golden brown on the outside and juicy on the inside. There are also other ways to cook dumplings, see below for a more detailed explanation and video.
Potsticker Fillings
- Prepare the cabbage – first straight into 1 cm wide and then into 1 cm long horizontal strips. Put 1 tablespoon of salt on the cabbage. Sprinkle the salt evenly and let it stand for 3 minutes.The cabbage should be finely chopped, then it'll be easier to process and wrap in dumpling wrappers.
- Hold the cabbage in your hand, squeeze it tightly with the palm of your hand, squeeze out the water, put it in another container, and repeat this process until all the cabbage leaves are squeezed out. Set aside. But don't squeeze too dry, about 50% is enough. Otherwise, the potstickers will be too dry when you eat them.PRO TIPS: This step is very important because cabbage releases a lot of water when it cooks, otherwise the potstickers will be mushy and crack. The salt will draw out the excess moisture.
- Put soy sauce, egg, sesame oil, minced ginger, minced meat, and cabbage in the container.
- Mix all ingredients – mix evenly.
How to wrap Potstickers
- First, prepare a small bowl of water. Second, sprinkle some flour on a baking sheet. This will keep the potstickers from sticking to the baking sheet.Dip your finger in the water and run it over the edge of the HALF wrapper. The reason you dip the water over the edge is to seal the wrap.
- Fold the wrapper in half so that it's in the shape of a half moon.
- Fold the dumpling skin inward on 2 sides.
- Make 3 to 4 folds around the edges and place them on the baking sheet.
How to cook Potstickers
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large NONSTICK skillet (with lid) over medium-high heat.
- Place the dumplings in the pan without overlapping them. Pan fried them for about 2 minutes, until the underside has a nice golden color.
- Pour water into the pan. If you're cooking fresh, non-frozen potstickers, the amount of water is about half the total height of the potstickers. If you're cooking frozen potsticker the amount of water is about 2/3 of the total height of the potstickers.
- Then immediately cover the pan to steam the potstickers.
- Steam for 3 minutes, then uncover the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
- Cook for another 3-4 minutes until all the water has evaporated. Ready to serve.
Other ways to cook Potstickers
Instead of pan-fried dumplings, there are other ways to cook Chinese fresh dumplings:
- Boiled – Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put in half of the dumplings and stir gently to keep them from sticking together. When the dumplings begin to float, steam with the lid off for another 2 minutes. Remove the dumplings from the pot and drain. To be sure, you can cut open a test dumpling.
- Steamed – place the dumplings in a steamer lined with a bamboo mat, cabbage leaf, or cheesecloth, and steam for 15-20 minutes.
- Pan-fried with a crispy skirt – This is very common in Taiwanese restaurants. First, put the dumplings in a pan with oil over high to medium heat. Fry them in the pan until the bottom is a little golden brown. Then you put in the cornstarch water, 3/4 bowl of water (170cc) with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Cover the pot for about 4 ~5 minutes, you open the lid and let the water evaporate and dry. Then they’re ready to serve.
- Chinese dumpling soup – It’s often eaten in Chinese restaurants. Usually they’re boiled and then added to various soups, such as beef soup, hot and sour soup, and egg drop soup. These are the most common soups that we usually eat.
You can watch the cooking instructions in the video below.
Dipping sauce for potsticker
This is the usual Chinese dumpling sauce stirred together in a medium bowl. Sometimes chopped garlic or chopped green onion is added to give it a different flavor.
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce,
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce,
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar,
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil,
- some homemade chili oil,
Can You Freeze Uncooked Potstickers
- To freeze uncooked potstickers, place the filled and folded gyoza on a baking sheet. Sprinkle some flour on the baking sheet to prevent them from sticking to the baking sheet. Make sure they don’t touch each other.
- Freeze them for a few hours when they’ve hardened, and place them in a freezer-safe bag or an airtight container.
- They can be frozen for a couple of months.
How to cook frozen dumplings
Boiled frozen Dumplings.
- Follow the same instructions as fresh dumplings. However, if the dumplings begin to float, add 1 cup of water to the pot and replace the lid.
- Repeat this process one more time. (You will need to repeat this process a total of 2 times).
- Remove the dumplings from the water and serve as soon as possible.
Pan fried frozen Potstickers.
- The cooking instructions are the same as for fresh potstickers. The only difference is that the amount of water for frozen potsticker is about 2/3 of the total height of the potstickers.
Recipe Substitution and Variations:
Meat: ground chicken or turkey, ground beef is a good meat substitute.
Vegetables: bok choy, Nappa cabbage, carrots with corn kernels, zucchini are good vegetable substitutes.
Vegetarian: Replace meat with fried tofu, eggs, or mushrooms.
The ratio of meat to vegetables is the same as the potstickers recipe.
Other Chinese pork dishes
OVEN PORK RIBS
SWEET AND SOUR PORK WITH PINEAPPLE
BAKED PORK CHOPS WITH CHEESE (IN SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE)
PAN-FRIED BONELESS PORK CHOP
TERIYAKI MEATBALLS
Potstickers (Chinese Pan Fried Dumplings)
Ingredients
- 1 lb /450g ground pork
- 1 lb cabbage
- 45 pieces potsticker wrappers or store-bought wrappers.
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon ginger ,grated
SEASONINGS:
- 1 teaspoon salt, preserved cabbage
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
POTSTICKER DIPPING SAUCE:
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar , or black vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon homemade chili oil
Instructions
PORK POTSTICKERS FILLING.
- Prepare the cabbage – first straight into 1 cm wide and then into 1 cm long horizontal strips. Put 1 tablespoon of salt on the cabbage. Sprinkle the salt evenly and let it stand for 3 minutes.The cabbage should be finely chopped, then it'll be easier to process and wrap in dumpling wrappers.
- In the meantime, you can grate the ginger. If you chop it, make sure you chop it very small. Otherwise, it may be too spicy. Set aside.
- Hold the cabbage in your hand, squeeze it tightly with the palm of your hand, squeeze out the water, put it in another container, and repeat this process until all the cabbage leaves are squeezed out. Set aside. (Noted 1)But don't squeeze too dry, about 50% is enough. Otherwise, the potstickers will be too dry when you eat them.
- Put soy sauce, egg, sesame oil, minced ginger, minced meat, and cabbage in the container. Mix all ingredients – mix evenly. (Noted 2)
ASSEMBLE POTSTICKERS.
- First, prepare a small bowl of water. Second, sprinkle some flour on a baking sheet. This will keep the potstickers from sticking to the baking sheet. (Noted 3)
- Dip your finger in the water and run it over the edge of the HALF wrapper. The reason you dip the water over the edge is to seal the wrap.
- Fold the wrapper in half so that it's in the shape of a half moon. Fold the dumpling skin inward on 2 sides.
- Make 3 to 4 folds around the edges and place them on the baking sheet.
PAN FRIED POTSTICKERS.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large NONSTICK skillet (with lid) over medium-high heat.
- Place the dumplings in the pan without overlapping them. Pan fried them for about 2 minutes until the underside has a nice golden color.
- Pour water into the pan. If you're cooking fresh, non-frozen potstickers, the amount of water is about half the total height of the potstickers. If you're cooking frozen potsticker the amount of water is about 2/3 of the total height of the potstickers.
- Then immediately cover the pan to steam the potstickers.
- Steam for 3 minutes, then uncover the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for another 3-4 minutes until all the water has evaporated.
- Ready to serve.
Video
Tips & Notes:
- This step is very important because cabbage releases a lot of water when cooked, otherwise, the potstickers become mushy and break. The salt draws out the excess moisture. You need to do this step for the rest of the leafy vegetables as well.
- The function of the eggs is mainly to hold the ingredients together so the filling doesn’t fall apart when you put it on the wrapper. If you fold the wrapper, it’ll be easier to fold and not spread as easily. If the dumplings break during cooking, the filling won’t spread as easily either.
- It’s important to sprinkle some flour or put baking pepper on a baking sheet. Make sure that the dumplings don’t stick to the baking sheet or overlap each other. Otherwise, the dumplings break and can’t be formed.
Leave a Reply