Food Photo Friday--Pot Stickers

Mmmmm.........This is Shelby's favorite dinner!  She always helps me fold the pot stickers and I must say, her folding talent has surpassed my own!  And she's fast. Which helps because we make about 120 of these dumplings each time, and I like them to all be ready at once.  This does require a little engineering, but you don't have to make quite that many! We fill, fold, brown on a griddle, then steam in 3 or 4 batches in two 12 inch cast iron pans, keeping the first two batches warm in the oven while the last two batches finish up. They are well worth the effort! And any leftovers are just as yummy!

Here is the recipe:

For 120 pot stickers/half recipe if you want less

4 cups shredded & finely chopped cabbage (about 1/2 a small head)
1 Tbsp. salt
1 lb. ground pork (I use Jimmy Dean Regular--buy it on sale and freeze it!)
2-3 Tbsp. minced garlic
2-3 Tbsp minced fresh ginger root
4-6 finely chopped green onions

2 60 count pkgs. Gyoza/Dumpling wraps--These are about 4-5 inches round and found in the produce section of most grocery stores

Add the salt to the cabbage and stir it around. Let it sit 15-20 minutes. Squeeze out the water from the cabbage either with your bare hands, or wrapped up in a cheese cloth. This reduces the volume of the cabbage quite a bit, but removing the excess water is an important step. Add the pork, garlic, ginger, & green onions. Mix well. Fill each wrap with a small amount of filling, maybe 3/4 tsp. You don't want a ton of filling, it will take too long to cook. This amount of filling should almost exactly fill 120 pot stickers. If you have wraps left over, use less filling next time, if you have filling left over, use more.

With your finger tip dipped in water, circle the edge of the wrap to wet. Place the small spoon of filling in the middle. Fold in half like a half moon. Pleat one side of the wrap to make the fold, pressing together as you go.


This is the closest thing I could find to how I fold mine. In my opinion, they use too much filling and use too many pleats (pretty, but too time consuming) Notice that the pleats are only on one side:





After they are folded, I place them on a sprayed griddle to brown. They seem to get a little dried out around the edges during this process, but don't worry, they will steam just fine. I brown them on the bottom, and the non-pleated side. You can see from my photo about how browned I let them get. Just work as quickly as you can, (a helper really makes a difference!) and get them all browned and piled onto a plate to await the next step.


In a medium-hot 12" skillet, spray generously with Pam or brush with oil. Place pot stickers in a single layer in pan. Don't put too many or they will stick to each other. Quickly pour in about a cup of hot water and cover with a lid. Allow to steam for about 5-7 minutes. Check liquid after a few minutes. You don't want any liquid left, but you also don't want to allow them to stick. Since I use a cast iron pan, there is a very fine line before they will stick like crazy! If you have a non-stick pan, this might not even be a problem for you . As each batch is completed, hold in a warm oven.

I usually serve these with white rice, glazed carrots, and Yoshida's Original dipping sauce. You can also make a sauce from soy sauce, ginger, green onions, and a little sesame oil.