Pot Stickers

I mentioned these little guys in my last post. Gyoza, also known as Pot Stickers, are a very well known, well loved appetizer. You don't have to be a foodie to know about these things. Finding good ones can be a quite a challenge, though. The best ones I've ever had have always been home made. I think part of the reason is that many restaurants use frozen, out of the bag dumplings instead of making them from scratch. They do that because it can be a bit time consuming wrapping these things up. I'll talk more about that later.

In my last post, I talked about not ordering these at restaurants. I'm not gonna go over that again to save you the time. When I decided to make these myself, I said "Screw these little pussy-ass pot stickers! I'm gonna make me a fat ass pot sticker! Each one is gonna weigh 2 pounds!". Then....reality set in. The wrapper themselves are not big to begin with. The first one I tried wrapping got messy real quick. Plus, I wasn't 100 percent sure what I was doing. So, what did I do? I went to youtube and watched about 5 or 6 videos on making pot stickers. You gotta start somewhere.

Now, I'm no master at making pot stickers. And reading this post and looking at the few pictures I have on here will not make you a master either. All I can do is give you some tips that I have learned from trial and error in preparing this dish. I highly recommend watching a video or two to learn how to properly wrap one. Or, better yet, have someone teach you in person.

Before you can start rolling 'em up, you gotta make the filling. Here is where the fun comes in. You can use ANYTHING for a filling! There is no set standard to what goes inside. This is where chefs put their signature. So, have some fun with it. Me, I almost always start with ground pork. A few herbs, a few veggies, bada bing bada boom, you're done!

Here is your first tip. Whatever filling you choose to go with, cook it first on its own, then after it has cooled, give it a run through with your knife. Big chunks of meat will not make it easy to wrap. You don't want to chop it down to a paste, but little bits are easier to work with.

When the filling is done and you are ready to get down to business, it's time to set up your station. Now, normally I don't like working with food outside the kitchen. But, this is something I will make an exception for. This is something that can take a while, so you might as well get comfortable. I'll set up everything on a table in the living room. Put on a good movie, grab a cold beer, and get ready for the long haul.

Yeah, it's kind of a bad pic, but, oh well. I was tired. It's all there, except the beer. One plate to wrap. One plate for finished product. Small bowl of water, bowl of filling, and wrappers.

I'm gonna try and run through this quick. Hit youtube for a full class. Lay down 1 gyoza wrapper. Put about 1tbs or so of filling. Dip a finger into the water and wipe half of the edge of wrapper. The water is going to act as glue. Seal the filling. Fold over the seal to create pretty edges. Yes, I said "pretty".

Tip number 2. When sealing the filling, try and get as much of the air out of the inside as possible. The air pockets can tear during the cooking process.

Time to cook 'em. Get a non stick saute pan to medium heat. Drop in a little vegetable oil, just a little. Add the gyoza and don't mess with them! Watch the edges to see when they start to brown. When it looks like it is a light brown, drop about 1/4 cup water in the pan. Right after you drop the water in, cover the pan to steam the gyoza. Keep cover until all the water has steamed off. Should take a minute or two. From there, use your tongs to check the bottoms. They should be done at this point.

Let them cool off a minute or two, then dig in and enjoy! That crispy bottom just makes it all the better. Serve with a decent dipping sauce and you are set!

I took some of these to work, and my co-workers seemed to like them. Here is a pic of a satisfied customer.

That's Aimee. She likes the pot stickers. She's also a gangster. Don't let that smile fool you. She listens to more Tupac than I do. Thanks for the thumbs up, gangsta!

Hope you liked it. Come back soon for more tasty tidbits!

J. Miller