Sunday Dim Sum, Monday Potstickers

Yesterday, I had a chance to go to my first Dim Sum experience. The kind of Chinese brunch where they roll up with carts full of little tasty treats. Little metal canisters full of all kinds of dumplings and rolls and steamed buns. There were fresh vegetables and there were sweets and soup. You let the server know what sounds good off each cart, then they pull that container and put it on large lazy susans on the table. Everyone spins the food around and enjoys. It was so good, I was only sorry I forgot to get any pictures! After enjoying all these different dumplings, I had a real taste for potstickers. I just had to find a good potsticker recipe!
Ever since our first trip to San Francisco when we walked through the doors at Brandy Ho's, (http://www.brandyhos.com) we have been obsessed with Potstickers. Little dumplings filled with ground meats and veggies and then pan fried and steamed. Brandy Ho's, which sits right at the edge of China Town and on the verge of the Italian district, has been one of our favorite spots in a town where we have sooo many favorite spots. We make sure to go for dinner at least once each trip out to SF. This is kind of funny when you consider my husband is not a fan of Chinese food. But he will walk miles, literally, to get to Brandy's.
Most of the time the taste of the dumpling itself is only have as important as the dipping sauce. We sure do like them.
I have tried an occasional recipe but until tonight I wasn't satisfied.
Tonight, ohhh tonight! I found a recipe on "Feast on the Cheap" which really cut the mustard!
'FotC' is a blog/website that will price out a recipe and provide delicious budget friendly meals. Well thought out meals, not the kind where you buy a bunch of processed foods and pour them into a casserole. So when I saw the Curried Pork Potstickers, (which includes another one of our go to flavors, curry) I was ready to give it a go. Happily, due to my 'well stocked pantry', I only needed to buy some ground pork and a piece of fresh ginger root.
The bonus was there was also a dipping sauce recipe to accompany the potstickers. This WILL BE my go to dipping sauce. A perfect YUM as chef Jet Tila would say. A balance of salty (soy) and sweet (sugar) with  big garlic and ginger rounding it out.

I followed this recipe pretty close, I wanted to give it the best odds for success. It was really delicious. It was exactly like I want potstickers to taste.
I was also very happy with the texture.
I like to use wonton wrappers and I usually have them on hand. But they are raw dough. The way this recipe instructs you to cook them in a little bit of oil to brown and crisp in the beginning, allows them to hold up nicely to a 3 minute steam. The result is a good firm wrapper and the solid, fully cooked, pork  center. I did get a bit frustrated when a few stuck to the bottom of the pan, but I corrected on the second batch. Be sure though, once you have filled the dumplings, before you put them in the hot pan, try to flatten them as much as you can (without blowing them out) so more of the surface makes contact with the heat. My husband was very happy with the results.
Recipe says it will make about 30 dumplings. We did not need that many. Trust me, we would have eaten every one. Instead I have some extra pork filling and tomorrow I will serve it with lettuce leaves as pork roll ups.

Curried Pork Potstickers adapted from Feast on the Cheap. (its nice and short, too.)
Check out this great site: http://feastonthecheap.net

Ingredients for the Potstickers:
12oz ground pork – $3.50
½-cup thinly sliced red cabbage, chopped finely – $0.99
2 green onions, chopped into thin rounds – $1.29
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger – $0.15
1 teaspoon Mirin – stock
½ teaspoon sesame oil – stock
¼ teaspoon curry powder – stock
½ teaspoon salt – stock
Pinch of black pepper – stock
25-30 wonton or potsticker wrappers (find them in your grocer’s produce section) – $3.29
Canola oil for pan-frying – stock
Water for pressing/crimping the wonton wrappers
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $8.23
Cost per potsticker: $0.27

Ingredients for the Dipping Sauce:
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced – stock
1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger – $0.30
1 Tablespoon sesame oil – stock
1/3-cup low sodium soy sauce – stock
¼-cup rice vinegar – stock
¼-teaspoon black pepper – stock
2 Tablespoons sugar – stock
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $0.30

Directions for the Potstickers:
1. Combine the pork, cabbage, green onions, ginger, mirin, sesame oil, curry, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Mix well incorporating all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes, assemble the potstickers. Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling on the center of the wonton wrapper. Dip your finger into a small bowl of water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. Press the edges of the dough to seal and crimp with the tines of a fork.

3. Once all potstickers are assembled, heat 1 Tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and place as many potstickers in the pan as you can without overcrowding (you’ll have to cook in batches). Brown the potstickers on both sides until golden and crispy – this happens rather quickly. Keep the flame on med-high, then add just enough water to coat the bottom of the skillet and cover with a lid. Steam the potstickers for 3-5 minutes or until the water has evaporated. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat until all potstickers are cooked.

Directions for the Dipping Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over a low flame until sugar has dissolved. Serve with potstickers.

TTFN!