Today marks 5 years of An Inspired Cook! I never thought this venture would be so rewarding, but it has truly been a lifesaver for me. I love that my favorite recipes will forever have a place for my kids and family to go to for inspiration and bring back memories of our time together around the kitchen table. I look back on the past 5 years as a labor of love, one that I have enjoyed so much more than I would have ever imagined. I’ve been on an Asian food kick lately, partly because it’s so easy to make especially on these hot summer days when it’s just too darn hot to turn on the oven. These potstickers are so good I made extra to put in the freezer. I found that making fresh potstickers take only a few minutes to prepare and frozen take about 2 to 3 minutes more. What could be better than that! I packaged 18 dumplings per freezer bag and thought we’d have enough for several weeks. Turns out they are more popular than I thought and are just about gone. I guess it’s time to make some more!
I doubled the recipe so you’ll only need half of what I’ve shown. The veggies I used were napa cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, green onions, cilantro, ginger root and garlic. To season the veggies you’ll need some sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, black pepper and sesame seeds.
Put your chopped veggies in a big bowl.
Mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper and sesame seeds together in a small bowl.
Mix the ground pork and soy mixture in with the veggies. Stir until the veggies are evenly combined with the meat and soy mixture. I found it easiest to just use my hands to get everything mixed together.
Spoon approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the pork and veggie mix onto a won ton wrapper.
Wet the edges with water to seal.
Crimp with your fingers to seal the edges and release any air that may have been trapped inside.
Here’s the first 28, only 74 more to go! It took 2 hours to fill, seal and crimp 102 dumplings. When getting ready for the freezer, set your dumplings on a cookie sheet or tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer for a couple hours before packaging in freezer bags. This will keep them from sticking to each other.
Soy sauce may be fine for some but I like this homemade dipping sauce that makes potstickers taste even better. The dipping sauce includes sweet chili sauce, Tamari soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and black pepper.
Mix it all together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until you need it.
Heat a skillet or pan that you can fit a lid on. Drizzle some vegetable or canola oil in the pan and heat over medium high heat.
Layer the dumplings in the hot pan and brown over all sides. I forgot to take a picture so you’ll have to imagine turning the dumplings every 30 seconds or so until all sides are browned. Takes about 2 minutes or so. Then add 1/4 cup of water which will steam and splatter. Place the lid on and steam the potstickers about a minute more. With frozen dumplings, brown them like you would fresh but add about 1/3 cup of water and steam 2 – 2 1/2 minutes to ensure that the meat cooks inside.
Ladle some of the dipping sauce over top or . . .
Dip them one at a time. Either way they taste amazing!
Pork and Veggie Potstickers
1 pound Ground Pork
1 cup Napa Cabbage, chopped
1 cup Mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup Carrots, cut matchstick
1/3 cup Green Onion, sliced thin
1/3 cup Cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons Ginger, grated on a microplane grater
2 large cloves Garlic, grated on a microplane grater
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
50 Wonton Wrappers
Water
Vegetable Oil
Soy Dipping Sauce, recipe follows
Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt, pepper and sesame seeds in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine chopped veggies and ground pork. Pour in the soy mixture and mix together until the veggies and pork are evenly combined.
To assemble the dumplings, place a heaping tablespoon of pork filling in the center of each wrapper. Dip your finger in water and run along the edges of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling to create a half moon. Crimp the edges with your fingers to seal and release any trapped air inside.
Heat a skillet or pot that has a good fitting lid. Pour just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add dumplings to the pan in a single layer and fry turning every 30 seconds or so to brown each side. Pour 1/4 cup of water to the pan and immediately place a lid over top. **Be careful when pouring the water, it will splatter and steam. Let potstickers steam 1 – 1 1/2 minutes. If cooking additional potstickers, wipe the pan clean with a paper towel to remove any excess oil and water before starting the next batch.
Serve with Soy Dipping Sauce.
Makes approximately 50 dumplings
Note: When freezing dumplings, place fresh dumplings on a flat baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in freezer for 2 hours or more before placing in freezer bag. This will keep them from sticking to each other. Cook frozen dumplings the same way except add 1/3 cup of water and allow to steam 2 – 3 minutes to ensure pork has fully cooked.
Soy Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup Sweet Chili Sauce
3 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons Tamari Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Ginger, grated on a microplane grater
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate any unused sauce.
An Inspired Cook 