Cooking with Kitch Coquette: Pin-Up Pot Stickers

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By: Kitch Coquette

If you are like me, you love Chinese appetizers more than the meal itself.  Unfortunately, every time you go to a Chinese restaurant, you politely agree to share an appetizer plate with your friends. Then, you have to pretend to be cool about only getting one pot sticker, when the guy next to you got two.  Aarrggh! If my dignity didn’t get in the way, I’d just order three plates of pot stickers all for myself.  The caveman in me would come out, and I’d poke people with my fork if they tried to steal my precious little yummy dumplings.  But if I did that, I’m pretty sure I’d lose a few friends.

So what inspired me to create my own homemade pot stickers was actually my strong aversion to sharing.  Sharing bad. Lots of Chinese dumplings good.  This is my version of Kenny Lao’s Rickshaw Dumpling recipe. For those of you who don’t know Kenny Lao, he owns Rickshaw Dumpling Bar in the East Village in New York.  This recipe will yield more dumplings than you can eat by yourself. You may even want to share. They also refrigerate and heat up well. So you can have dumplings for the entire week. Yippee!!

Pin-Up Pot Stickers

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What You Need:

½ head of napa cabbage

1 T kosher salt

1 lb. Jimmy Dean’s Sage Sausage

1 bunch of green scallions thinly sliced (green parts only)

½ bunch of cilantro finely chopped

2 eggs

2 T ginger paste (tube found in the produce department near herbs)

1 T lemon grass paste (tube found in the produce department near herbs)

¼ cup soy sauce

2 T sesame oil

Black Pepper to taste

1 package of wonton wrappers

Vegetable oil

 

What To Do:

 

1. Finely chop cabbage. Place in a bowl with salt and mix together until salt is well-incorporated. Let it sit for 5 minutes while you are mixing other ingredients.

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2. Put the remaining ingredients (other than wonton wrappers and vegetable oil) into a large mixing bowl.

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3. When cabbage is done sitting in the salt, it will have released a lot of water. Take handfuls of the cabbage and wring out the moisture with your hands. Place the cabbage from your hand into the bowl with the meat mixture. Repeat this until all of your cabbage is fully drained and sitting on top of the meat mixture. Throw out the remaining cabbage water. Mix the meat and cabbage and herbs together with your hands until well-incorporated.

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4.  Set up a work area for folding the dumplings. You will need a cutting board, a small bowl filled with water, and a place where you can set your folded dumplings before we steam/fry them (I used a sheet of aluminum foil that I laid on my counter).  Grab a few friends to help you fold. There will be more than enough for everyone.

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5. Lay several wonton wrappers out at the same time. Place 1 T of the meat in the center of each wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in the water and trace the outside of the wonton wrapper so that it is moist. Then bring two sides together and seal them by gently pinching them together. Pull up another corner, and seal the edge. Pull up the final corner and seal the two final edges.

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6. Set each dumpling aside on your aluminum foil while you make the others.  The more you fold, the faster you get. I’ve gotten to the point where I can fold all four-corners at the same time. It ends up being almost one fluid motion. If you get tired of folding and you think you have enough dumplings, you can always freeze the meat mixture and remaining wonton wrappers. You can make another batch next weekend.

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7. Once you have finished folding your dumplings, put vegetable oil into a large frying pan (just enough to coat the bottom). Place stove on Medium-High Heat.  When the oil is hot (but before it is smoking), place as many dumplings as you can fit in one layer on the bottom of the pan.

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8. Immediately pour ½ cup of water into the frying pan with the dumplings.  Cover the pan and let it steam in the pan until the water is fully evaporated.  This is a good time to make your dipping sauce (See recipe below). Just make sure you keep an eye on your pan – or you may end up with burned pot stickers. When the water has evaporated, you can remove the lid, let the dumplings fry for about 30 seconds more. Peek under the bottom of one of the dumplings, if it is brown, it’s time to get them out of the pan.  Use a spatula to scoop all of the dumplings out onto a large serving plate.  You can cover with aluminum foil if you want to keep them warm while you are cooking the other batches of dumplings.

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Pin-Up Pot Sticker Dipping Sauce

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What You Need:

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 T sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp sriracha (or 2 tsp. if you want it hotter)

 

What You Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix vigorously with a fork. Serve alongside the Pin-Up Pot Stickers.

 

Want more cooking ideas from Kitch? Try her Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Braised Corned Beef, Bacon Mashed Potatoes, Farmer’s Wife Avocado Salad, Kahlua Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars, Ribs or Sponge Cake

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