Pot-Stickin’ Good

A few weeks ago a friend of mine hosted a dumpling making party, which might as well have been a slave labor party. Elbow deep in ground pork, for hours we folded dumpling after dumpling, many of which we consumed, but most of which now reside in my friend’s freezer. Fortunately, good company and copious supplies of beer kept us dumpling technicians happy through our assembly of over 300 dumplings.

However, absent such a congenial atmosphere, in New York it is often difficult to stir up the energy to make fresh gyoza – especially with a bag of 50 frozen beauties from Vanessa’s or Prosperity just a train ride away. But with the homemade dumpling the wrapper turns out thin and crispy unlike the chewy and gummy skin of the frozen dumpling. And the salty pork and soy are balanced by the mild and sweet flavor of fresh chives and Napa cabbage.

Gyoza (or potstickers, as they are known in English) are staples of both Chinese and Japanese cuisine. In Japan they are the culinary specialty of Tochigi-ken, a prefecture just north of Tokyo that is best described as the New Jersey of Japan. There they are served in restaurants and at storefront shops in malls and train stations. Freshly made, they arrive on your plate as a single mass, stuck together by the heat of the frying pan, requiring you to pull each dumpling free before you eat it. The filling is almost always pork and chives, though you often find cabbage and sometimes shiitake mushrooms.

Some assembly required, but certainly worth the effort.

Gyoza

For the filling:

1 pound ground pork
1 cup napa cabbage, chopped
1 cup chives, chopped
½ cup chopped shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Soy sauce, red pepper, salt, pepper to taste

1 package gyoza wrappers (available at Asian supermarkets)
A bowl of warm water mixed with a tablespoon or so of cornstarch

Sautee the cabbage and the mushrooms in a little vegetable oil over medium heat until they are soft. Cool.

Combine the rest of the filling ingredients, then add the cabbage and mushrooms. In truth, the filling is really up to you – adjust it to taste for spiciness and flavor. Mirin or sake are good additions, as are shiso leaves or scallions. Vegetarian dumplings with cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots are also quite tasty.

Now here is where starts to get a little tricky. Assembling the dumplings takes some practice. I can make passable dumplings, but in Japan my malformed gyoza were universally laughed at (literally). Don’t worry, you will get the hang of it, but trust me, there will be a few oddly shaped ones along the way.

First, take a wrapper in one hand. Place a SMALL ball of the filling mixture in the middle. I emphasize small because the one sure way of messing it up is trying to overstuff them. A teaspoon of filling, maybe a teaspoon and a half.

Dip an index finger into the cornstarch water and wet the outer edge of the wrapper halfway around. Starting from the left side, fold the dry side over the wet, and press to seal all along the edge up to about a fifth of the way up. Then take the dry side, double it back on itself to make a crease, and press the dry side onto the damp one another fifth of the way up. Continue to do this until the dumpling is sealed.

Once all the dumplings are assembled, time to cook them. If they are well sealed they could easily be boiled or steamed. But you’ve come so far, you might as well go all the way and pan fry them.

Start by heating a little vegetable oil with a few drops of sesame oil in a well seasoned pan over high heat (a nonstick would make it easier, but then there is something about potstickers that don’t stick that seems to violate the point). Place fold side up next do each other in the pan. Don’t be afraid to crowd them in there. Let them fry for about a minute and a half or two minutes, and then pour between a fifth and a quarter of a cup of cold water in the pan, cover, and turn the heat down to medium. It will steam and it will crackle. It will sound like an unholy inferno in there. Whatever you do, do not remove the cover. Do not check up to see how they are doing. They won’t appreciate it. Let them steam for 4 to 5 minutes, undisturbed, before removing the lid and turning off the heat. Pour in a little more cold water to loosen them and, if you’ve done it right you should theoretically be able to flip them out onto a plate in a solid mass. In practice, however, I find it is best to just remove them with a spatula.

The classic dipping sauce is just soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil, but spicy Japanese mayo is also good (mayo, sesame oil, chili oil, and shichimi, which is Japanese “seven flavor chili pepper” available at Japanese specialty stores)

Freeze the extras, and I guarantee it will be a long time until your next visit to Vanessa’s.