MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: POTSTICKERS, Part 1 of 2
Categories: Appetizers, Chinese, Usenet
Yield: 2 Dozen
MMMMM---------------------------DOUGH--------------------------------
2 c Flour, all-purpose
1/2 c Water
MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
1/2 lb Pork, ground
1/2 sm Chinese (Napa)
-cabbage, cored
-and chopped
1 Green onion,
-coarsely chopped
2 Ginger (fresh),
-thumb-sized slices,
-minced
2 Water chestnuts,
-chopped
1 t Salt
1/2 t Sugar
1 pn White pepper
1 t Sesame oil
TO COOK
5 T Vegetable oil
1 c Water
MMMMM---------------------------SAUCE--------------------------------
Hot chili oil
Red rice vinegar
Soy sauce
In a bowl, combine flour and water, mixing to form a ball. Remove to
a floured board and knead with your palm for about 3 minutes. Shape
into a ball, cover with a damp towel, and let stand for about 10
minutes.
Make the filling by combining the filling ingredients above.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
To shape and assemble, knead dough for about 3 minutes. Roll into a
cylinder that is about 1 inch in diameter. Cut off the ends, then cut
into about 24 pieces, each about 3/4-inch wide. With the cut side up,
press the dough down with your palm to flatten. Use a rolling pin to
make pancakes about 2 1/2 - 3 inches in diameter. (They get quite
thin; that's what you want.)
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of each pancake.
Fold the dough over to make a half circle and pleat the edges firmly
together.
To pan-fry, heat cast-iron or other heavy-bottom skillet over moderate
heat. Add about 3 T oil, swirling to coat bottom. (Watch out, it
sizzles quite a bit. Don't get burned!) When oil is hot, place
potstickers, seam side up, in skillet and agitate (shake) for 30
seconds. Pour in water, cover and gently boil over moderate heat for
7 to 8 minutes. When oil and water start to sizzle, add remaining 2 T
oil. Tip skillet to distribute oil evenly; watch carefully
(uncovered) to prevent sticking. When bottoms are brown (usually
several minutes later), remove from heat and carefully lift out
potstickers with spatula.
To serve, turn potstickers over (dark side up) and arrange on serving
platter. Combine chili oil, vinegar and soy sauce in proportions to
suit your taste and offer sauce for dipping. Alternatively, cut up a
hot chili pepper into red rice vinegar.
NOTES:
* Delicious Northern Chinese snack and hacker's staple -- Hackers on
both coasts and most places in between love potstickers (though if
you're from the Right Coast, you probably know them as Peking
Ravioli, or just ravs. This recipe is based on one found in Chef
Chu's Distinctive Cuisine of China. Total preparation time is about
45 minutes. They don't come out as good as the ones from Cho's in
Mountain View, but if you don't happen to be within 45 minutes of
Mountain View, they'll do very nicely, thank you. Yield: Makes about
2 dozen.
* You can freeze uncooked potstickers for later use, if you squeeze
out the water from the cabbage during preparation (in a colander or
cheesecloth). Freeze potstickers separately on cookie sheets until
firm, then put them in plastic bags. When rolling out the pancakes,
leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. A thicker center
will hold up better during the browning.
* If you prefer, steam potstickers for about 12 minutes over boiling
water instead of pan-frying. (No self-respecting hacker would be
caught eating steamed potstickers, though.)
* These are really not hard to make, and come out quite nicely!
Following the dough recipe above leads to a fairly dry and floury
dough; this makes it hard to roll out and pleat. Feel free to add a
little more water. There are also now commercially available
potsticker presses that take care of folding and pleating; they're
cheap and plastic and work rather well.
* The perfect potsticker is uniformly brown with a thick brown area
on the bottom (where it sticks to the pot); it seems that achieving
this only comes with practice. I tend to fry both sides a bit before
adding the water; this helps. Beware of too much heat; the bottom
will bubble and crack. This doesn't taste any different, but doesn't
look as nice.
* If you don't cook the whole batch at once, store the potstickers
so that they don't touch; the dough tends to stick to itself, so the
potstickers may tear as you remove them.
* Many restaurants serve Hoy Sin sauce (hoisin) instead of hot sauce.
: Difficulty: moderate.
: Time: 45 minutes.
: Precision: measure the ingredients.
: Chris Kent
: DEC Western Research Lab, Palo Alto, California
:
[email protected]
{ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax}!decwrl!kent
: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust
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