Barry's International Kitchen

September 1, 2009


Pot Stickers

This is an adaptation of a recipe I got from America's Test Kitchen produced by Cook's Illustrated and I get both their Magazines Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country.  I like their approach to cooking very scientific and completely predictable.  I have made some changes to accommodate living in Central Maine and some of you may live in rural America or rural Switzerland for that matter.  I use regular cabbage that is White, Green or Red cabbage that I can readily get at the market, not the Chinese Cabbage they recommend, this is a matter of economics, I land up with half a cabbage that never gets used where as the other cabbage always gets used for something.  Their test kitchen is in Boston and they can get anything they need within a couple of blocks I suspect.  The other thing that is different and we can't get here are the Japanese wraps they recommend.  For this I use egg roll wraps and cut them to size, the won ton wraps are too small.   This is a bowl that has a 4 1/2 inch diameter, 5" wouldn't be too big if you had one.  Most of my recipes I have scaled down for two or we have way to many leftovers,  you can adjust to suit your needs.    As in most things it is all about the sauce and this is one killer sauce, when I am finished I just drink it....

 

 I only had six egg roll wraps left.  I often make more by taking the excess adding a little water and flour and work it until smooth and roll it out or if your lucky enough to have a pasta machine it does a great job.  I turned 6 egg roll wraps into 10 pot sticker wraps and probably could have got another 2 or 3 if I pushed it.

Proceedure and Recipe

Cut cabbage into thin slices and then small pieces, take the thick rib out.

 

Regular cabbage is tougher than Chinese Cabbage and needs to be pre cooked before cooking Pot Sticker.  Cut about a cup to a cup and a half of cabbage and microwave for 4 1/2 minutes to soften.  Add 1/4 pound ground Pork, black pepper, 2 tbs soy sauce, 1 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, the whites from two eggs, 6 tbs chopped scallions both green and white, mix but don't over work.  You can put this in the fridge for 30 minutes if you have the time, let the flavors meld, covered with plastic wrap.  

Filling

Filling the pot stickers is something that you need to do a few times.  Put a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle.  Wet all around the edge of the wrap and close around the middle leaving no room for air,  start from the middle and work to the edges pushing all air out and crimping the edged with a pleat, ensuring all the air is out and it is sealed.

Cooking

2 Tbs of cooking oil in a medium hot pan, add Pot Stickers but don't over crowd the pan, the flat or non sealed side down.


Cook about 5 minutes until bottoms are crusty brown.  Lower heat and add 1/4 cup of water and cover for 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook off all water 2 to 4 minutes, not critical.  Serve. 

Dipping Sauce(The best part) 

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce

2 tbs Rice Vinegar

2 tbs Miren (should be easy to find in Asian section of the market)

2 tbs water

A little heat, few shakes of Tabasco if you like or leave it out

1/2 tsp Sesame Oil

1 scallion cut fine green and white, I usually use more.



Make a Free Website with Yola.