Recipe Corner: Taiwan Potstickers

We spent several months in Taiwan one year many years ago. While we were there, one of EE's co-workers shared his (the co-worker's) mother-in-law's recipe for potstickers. I don't know if she was native to Taiwan or if she had immigrated from the Mainland. I don't know where she got the recipe or if there were any secret ingredients or methods she didn't share with us.

This recipe needs some photos. Maybe we can do another post on potstickers the next time we make them. I do want to get this recipe written down somewhere so that it doesn't get lost.

This recipe can be used for boiled dumplings or for the fried/steamed combination we call potstickers. It makes 32 potstickers.


Dough

3 cups flour
~1 cup hot water

Add very hot water (even as hot as boiling) to the flour to make a dough. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes. The food processor will work for these steps.  If you use a food processor with a dough-kneading blade, run it for only 1-2 minutes.

Let the dough rest for ~ 1 hour (optional, though it does help)

Divide the dough into 32 equal pieces. This is easy to do -- divide into halves or quarters, divide each piece into halves or quarters, and then do a final dividing so that you have 32 pieces. I usually divide into quarters and work with one quarter at a time. Each quarter gets divided into 8 pieces, so I quarter the quarter, then divide each blob in half just before I roll it out. Each blob is maybe 1" or so in diameter, about like a pingpong or golf ball.

Roll each dough blob into a circle, maybe 4" in diameter, on a flour-covered surface. I need to measure this the next time I do it. The rolling-out can happen at the same time as the filling and sealing occurs.

The texture of the dough and the thickness of the resulting circles is something that's hard for me to describe. Experience helps me understand what works best. The dough needs to be soft but not too soft, and neither too sticky nor too dry.

Filling

1 package of ground pork (~ 1/2 to 1 lb.)
~1" of ginger root, peeled and minced
~2-3 scallions (green onions), chopped
~1/2 of a small head of Chinese cabbage (see note for what to do with it)
a few tablespoons sesame oil.

We aren't too picky about how much of each ingredient we use. Each time it's a bit different. The ground pork in this country is different from what was available in Taiwan. I don't know how to describe it, or if it's possible to get the same kind of stuff here.

The Chinese cabbage gets sliced and chopped. Then, sprinkle it with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then, squeeze out some of the excess moisture.

Mix together all of the filling ingredients. This can be prepared ahead of time.

Assembly

Put a blob of filling into each potsticker wrapper. Seal it with a little bit of water and flour. (We fill a small container with water and add some flour; this serves as the glue to hold the wrapper halves together.)

We sometimes divide the filling into equal blobs so that it comes out perfectly. Other times, we eyeball it. This may require a bit of adjusting near the end, or we might end up with some leftover filling.

If you're going to make these as boiled dumplings, seal the wrapper completely. For the potstickers, we'll seal the top but leave the sides a bit open. That's how they did it in the restaurants we went to in Taiwan. We put them on a floured baking sheet to await cooking, often grouped in sets of four for easy counting and handling. Yes, we need to add photos.

If you want to boil dumplings, it works like ravioli. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the dumplings, and simmer for a while until they're cooked. Drain and eat. But we usually make potstickers instead.

Cooking

Put about 1/4 cup peanut oil (or other high-smoke-point oil) into a cast-iron frying pan. Yes, you can use a wok, but our wok is smaller than the monster woks in Taiwan restaurants. Also, since we have an electric stove, it's hard to get any wok hot enough. The cast-iron skillet works better for us. Heat the skillet until the oil is barely smoking.

Add ~10-12 potstickers to the pan. Immediately pour in a teacup full of water with a pinch of flour mixed in, so that the potstickers are sitting in about 1/4" of liquid (water plus oil). Put the lid on the pan, leaving a small hole for steam to escape.

Cook the potstickers until they smell like they're done. The steam will have almost stopped at this point. Remove the lid, take out the potstickers, and put them on a paper towel to drain.

Continue cooking until all the potstickers are done, adding more peanut oil when necessary. The already-cooked ones can stay in a warm oven if you'd like. Serve them with sauce. Eat them up, yum. Leftovers are good, too, if you have any.

Potsticker Dipping SauceMix approximately equal amounts of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, plus sesame oil, and chili paste (sriracha works fine) or hot chili oil. We like the Taiwan brands of soy sauce, though the Korean ones work well, too. The Japanese brands taste different and are a bit harsh for this sauce. I sometimes add a small bit of warm water to the sauce, too.

Final NotesThis recipe makes a huge mess. There will be flour all over the preparation area. The cooking area will be spattered with oil droplets. The pan will have bits of stuff stuck to it (they're called potstickers, duh). The oil spattering can be reduced by putting paper grocery bags or newspaper on all surfaces near the stove. The rest is certainly cleanable. The mess is worth it.