So our New Years Eve is going well, nice and quiet with the exception of "Wii" noise and Abigail yelling at the games. Recipes conquered so far 1, we shall see how many make it to the blog. Please pardon me dear readers if champagne hinders my progress as I am ringing in the new year. Pizza and apple fritters are planned as well....
Chinese Steamed Potstickers or Dumplings
1/2 lb. ground Pork
2 Tb. Soy Sauce
2 Tb. Chopped Garlic (*** ADD side-note on garlic listed below)
1 snipped green onion (use kitchen shears, so easy)
1 Tb. Grated Fresh Ginger
1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Head of cabbage (plain is fine, no need to buy the pricey Chinese style)
1 Package Wonton wrappers **
* These are typically found in the produce section of your grocery store, buy the small ones if available, but often you will only be able to find the egg roll wrappers. These are the SAME thing I promise ,just different sizes. You can trim them to fit your needs. Save scraps in a Ziploc bag to boil like fresh pasta the next day. For a shopping fiend I can be quite frugal with leftovers. OK we can all see I'm on the ADD bus tonight...back to business!!
Combine all ingredients with the exception of wrappers and cabbage. Set aside.
Take a 5 Qt. Stockpot and fill with 1 inch or so of water. Add a vegetable steamer insert and line evenly with cabbage leaves(as shown in picture). Why cabbage you ask?? I'm sure an authentic chef would eloquently explain why, but I will just tell you that your lovely dumplings will stick like crazy to your steamer insert and I imagine the cabbage also acts as a barrier so they all cook evenly. Place on lid and put burner on med high.
Go back to your filling mixture and wrappers. You need to keep all of your wrappers and filled dumplings under wet paper towels to prevent them from drying out. Take 1 Tb. filling and place in the center of your wonton wrapper that you have placed at a diagonal. You will need "glue" to close your little dumplings, this is a simple mix of flour,about 4 Tb, and water about 1/2 C. Add more water as needed. Final product should be pretty liquidy. You are going to wrap the up like a little present. Pardon me if I ramble.... using your fingers place and layer of your "glue" around the entire perimeter of the wrapper. Take corner closest to you and connect to the top corner, carefully press all air out and seal edges. Connect left and right corners to top corner and add additional "glue" as needed. Fold the entire top (all three corners over to the body of the dumpling to create a cute little envelope like parcel of porky goodness.
Place completed dumplings on a wet paper towel lined cookie sheet or platter. Cover with additional wet paper towels.
Take completed dumpling to your pot which should be nice and steamy now. Be careful, steam burns are miserable. Using tongs place dumplings on cabbage lined steamer insert. Timing for cooking is approximately 5 minutes. You can tell when they are done when you gently push on them with tongs and they are no longer mushy. I have made these several times, but in 100% non Martha like honesty I was very nervous and cut open my first couple of batches to ensure I wasn't serving raw pig to my family. Just cook it until the meat is opaque.
Remove cooked dumplings from pot and allow to cool slightly. Some people like to up the challenge of this dish and crisp up the flat bottoms of their dumplings. I prefer them simply steamed. To do this pour just enough sesame seed or even vegetable oil in a small saute' pan to coat the bottom. Placed steamed, fully cooked dumplings into hot oil and brown until crispy. Drain on paper towels. ** Shout out to Brawny on this recipe huh??
Dipping sauces
**While these are delicious all on their own, who can resist a dip? Besides my 8 year old who recently has an aversion to all sauces and dips. I know, not my kid right??!
Soy Sauce
Ponzu Sauce (soy sauce with citrus, sold in Asian section of most grocery stores)
Duck Sauce
Or any Asiany sauce that sounds good to you.
Cooking is fun, mix up this recipe, add red pepper flake, add peppers, use ground chicken. Make it yours!! Just have fun and enjoy!
** As promised, note about garlic, Martha close your ears, Emeril shut it down, Julia, had it been available in your day you would have wholeheartedly agreed with this statement I'm almost certain!!
Buy the jars of chopped garlic sold in the produce section of your grocery. It is simple, lasts longer than fresh garlic, so is in turn cost effective. I was a garlic snob back in my early cooking days and got over that!! I buy the huge jar from Walmart and it's perfectly delightful, your friends and family will never know.
Happy New Year my dear friends!! Eat Well and live well in this new year.
With much love,
Cake Girl
