There are lots of gorgeous recipes for potstickers online. The problem? Most are filled with pork, or shrimp, or a combination thereof. There’ll be none of that here. I was inspired to make these dumplings after viewing some beautiful potsticker photos, and was inspired to create some fillings based on the wonderful assortment of vegetables in our fridge.
I filled half with a mushroom-ginger filling, and the other half with a garlicky mix of greens and bean sprouts. Quite good indeed.
I should note that I decided to make my own dumpling wrappers (it’s actually quite hard to find suitable premade wrappers around here) so from start to finish, the cooking process took me two hours. That’s a little long for a lunch, but it was fun.
The filling quantities below are each enough for about 15 potstickers, but if you have leftovers, you can just eat it as a salad, or stir-fried.
For about 15 potstickers (depending how large you make them):
GREEN GARLICKY FILLING
100 grams fresh spinach
50 grams mung bean sprouts
50 grams beet leaves, or another green
50 grams tofu
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
handful cilantro leaves
Finely chop all the ingredients. Heat the spinach and the beet leaves in the microwave for a minute, so they lose volume. Drain well. Mix everything together, draining out any extra liquid.
MUSHROOM GINGER TOFU FILLING
100 grams mushrooms
50 grams tofu
1 inch fresh ginger
handful fresh chives
2 teaspoons rice wine (mirin)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
fresh black pepper
Finely chop everything and mix together.
TO MAKE THE DUMPLINGS:
Use either premade dumpling wrappers or make your own as follows (for about 15 dumplings): Mix 1 cup flour with 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water, enough to make a stiff dough. Knead until consistent, roll out into a 1-inch (2.5 cm) tube, and let sit (I let mine sit while I made the filings). Slice the tube into 1/4 inch (7 mm) discs, and roll each disc flat, until it’s about 3 inches (8 cm) in diameter. Flour lightly. This only sounds quick.
Put a small spoonful of filling into your dumpling wrapper, and close by making a few gathers on one side of the wrapper, before you pinch the other side against it (In the photo – I should note that it’s easier to close the dumplings when the wrapper is actually round. The one in the photo ripped). Use a bit of water as glue.
The proper way to cook these dumplings is to put them in a frying pan with oil, fry for a few minutes, dump in some water, cover, let steam until the water is gone, and then fry for a few minutes more. I tend to skip the water part, but I think it gives the dumplings a nicer texture. For the record.
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