Delicious Pot Stickers

Guo Tie

My Chinese friends from mainland China

introduced me to dumplings
the much-loved morsels of ground meat and
vegetables wrapped with dough
skin. Dumplings are a staple of Chinese cuisine,
especially in Northern China.
The best dumplings are the ones that are lusciously
plump, thin-skinned, and
stuffed with just the right amount of filling.
There are many types of dumplings: boiled, panfried, steamed, or deepfried.
The most-loved is probably the pot sticker, Guo Tie .
Pot stickers are easy
to makewrapped with store-bought dumpling
wrappers or homemade
wrappers (recipe on page 31), pan-fried to a golden
brown, and then lightly
steamed with water.
Pot stickers are versatile because so many different
proteins can be used:
ground pork, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, or shrimp.
Vegetables, such as
chopped cabbage or Chinese (Napa) cabbage, are
often added to further
enhance the taste. The best pot stickers Ive had are
the ones served at Manjia
Fantian or Maos Restaurant in Beijingwith their
unforgettable texture and
flavor they were pure perfection!

Makes 20 dumplings or serves 4 as an appetizer or

snack
20 store-bought pot sticker wrappers or homemade
dumpling Wrappers (page
31)
11/2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
Dumpling dipping Sauce (page 71), for dipping
Filling
8 oz (250 g) ground pork
4 oz (100 g) shelled and deveined medium-sized raw
shrimp
1/2 cup (80 g) thinly sliced Chinese (napa) cabbage,
squeezed of excess water
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion (scallion)
One 1 in (2.5 cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and
grated
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or sherry
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 dashes white pepper
1 Make the Filling by combining all the ingredients together.
Chill the Filling in the
refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2 Assemble the pot stickers by following the instructional
picture guide on the right.
3 Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Arrange the
dumplings on the skillet and
cover with its lid. Pan-fry the pot stickers until the bottoms
turn golden brown and
become crispy.
4 Add the water and cover the skillet with its lid immediately.
The water should sizzle
and steam the pot stickers. Turn the heat to low as soon as
the water has completely
evaporated. Cook the pot stickers for another 2 minutes, dish
out and serve hot with the

Dumpling Dipping Sauce.