Pot Stickers (Chinese Pan-Fried Dumplings)

Pot stickers (鍋貼 guōtiē) aka Chinese pan-fried dumplings is a significant dish for Chinese New Year. I can hear some of you moaning ‘Not again, dumplings?’. What can I say? Yup dumplings. Hehehe Apparently the filling for Chinese dumplings version is so much simpler compared to Korean mandus.

Okay why is pot stickers a Chinese New Year dish? Have you ever notice the shape of pan-fried dumplings resemble gold ingots like in those olden days Chinese dynasty? Ya right? That’s why eating pot stickers during CNY is believe to bring prosperity. To tell you the truth I never knew about this (the gold ingots thingy and is a CNY dish) until I make this recipe. My family never make pot stickers for CNY. Maybe that’s why we never fatt tat (get rich). Haha

Pot stickers = Pan-fried pea pod shaped dumplings. So delish!

Let’s cook!

Place all ingredients (chopped napa cabbage, ginger and onions) in a bowl including minced pork, soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, sugar and cornstarch. Mix until well combined.

All ready for dumpling wrapping process.

Now let’s wrap dumplings! They are basically the same pea pod shape which I’ve shown before in my Korean mandu recipe. Anyway here’s the steps again:

L-to-R: Place a dumpling skin on your palm. Spoon a heaping teaspoon filling onto the skin.

L-to-R: Wet the edge of half the skin. Carefully seal it close while pushing the air out with your fingers.

L-to-R: Wet the edge of the dumpling. Then pleat the edges. Place the finished dumpling on a flat surface and press down to flatten bottom.

L-to-R: Here’s a picture showing how to pleat the dumpling. Finished dumpling!

My dumplings are quite ‘fatt’. No? Hehehe

To cook pot stickers, heat oil in a pan. Fry some dumplings on all side in medium heat until golden brown. Pour water, cover with lid and cook until liquid is all absorbed. The recipe actually recommend using stock instead of water but I find using stock make the dumplings a bit salty. That’s it. Serve warm.

This Chinese dumplings which uses simple ingredients proofed to be not ordinary. It’s so delish. The seasonings are just perfect plus it’s aromatic thanks to the ginger and sesame oil.

I love love love this dumplings. 🙂

Pot Stickers (Chinese Pan-Fried Dumplings)
Adapted from Quick & Easy: Enjoy Chinese Cuisine by Judy Lew
Yields 35-40 pieces

Dumpling skins (40 pieces)
Some vegetable oil
1/4 cup water (actual recipe ask for 1/2 cup stock which I think is quite salty)

Filling:
450g minced pork
2 cup chopped napa cabbage
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour) Note: I used tapioca flour instead

Method:
1. Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix well until well incorporated.

2. Place a piece of dumpling skin on your palm. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of filling onto the skin.

3. Wet the edge of half the skin. Then seal to form a half moon while pushing the air out with your fingers.

4. Wet the edge of the half moon dumpling. Then pleat the edges. Place the finished dumpling on a flat surface and press down to flatten bottom.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until the dumpling skins are filled. Now you can pan-fry the dumplings or freeze them for later consumption.

6. To pan-fry, heat some oil in a pan and fry the pot stickers on medium heat until golden brown on all sides.

7. Pour water, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed. You can serve the pot stickers with soy sauce, vinegar dip or hot sesame seed oil. In my opinion, you don’t need any condiments. The pot stickers is yummy on its own.

Enjoy!