With Chinese New Year coming up in a few weeks (February 3), I wanted to share a couple of chinese dishes on my blog. This weekend I made some pot stickers. Pot stickers (called guo tie in chinese) are chinese dumplings which are pan fried. The bottom surface of the dumpling sticks to the pan while cooking (hence the name “pot sticker”), creating a crispy bottom crust.
I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, having that crispy bottom makes dumplings taste so much better. The other way of eating dumplings is to boil them and this creates a sort of mushy skin. But when dumplings are pan fried, the bottoms are crispy and the rest of the skin has a more elastic chewy pull to it.
I used to make dumplings every Chinese New Year, but this year I’ve decided I’m not going to. It’s a lot of work. I used to think it was worth it because I prefer homemade ones over the frozen ones that you can buy at the supermarket. However, after I found a few restaurants in Monterey Park that sell frozen dumplings, I decided it was just easier to buy those. If you don’t live near a restaurant that sells their dumplings, you can buy the frozen ones from asian grocery stores or from Costco. If you are very adventurous, you can make your own dumplings and freeze them. You can view my dumpling recipe here.
Making pot stickers is quite easy if you have some frozen dumplings on hand. You just need a frying pan and some oil and water. First, heat a pan with a few tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, place frozen dumplings onto the pan. You want the dumplings to be frozen when you cook them. Don’t defrost them first. As the pot stickers begin to cook, add some water to the pan, so that there is about half an inch of water covering the pot stickers. Then take a lid and put it on top. The steam from the water trapped in the pan will cook the dumplings. The oil will keep the dumpling bottoms from burning and sticking to the pan and will create a crispy bottom for the dumplings. After about 10 minutes, all the water should be evaporated and the dumplings should be done. Of course, these are just some approximations. A lot of it depends on the size of your pan, how many dumplings you are trying to cook, etc.
The frozen dumplings usually have a white skin. It should turn more translucent when the skin is cooked. You can cut one open to check to make sure the meat filling inside is cooked.
Crispy Potstickers
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 10 frozen dumplings
- water
Potsticker dipping SAUCE
- 1 ½ tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp chili oil
Instructions
- Add oil to a medium nonstick skillet. Bring to medium-high heat. Add frozen dumplings, placing the bottoms of the dumplings onto the skillet. Allow them to cook in oil for about 2 minutes, or until the bottoms turn a golden brown.
- Pour enough water into skillet until it covers 1/2 inch of the bottom of each dumpling. Place lid over the skillet. Continue to cook dumplings about 10 minutes or until dumplings are cooked and most of the water is evaporated. The skin of the dumplings should turn from solid white to a slightly translucent white. You can test if the filling is cooked by cutting one open.
- To make dipping sauce, add all sauce ingredients into a small bowl. Mix to combine. Serve with potstickers.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
yup!! crispy bottom all the way!
love the oil/ water method too!!! way better than straight pan or water only prep. =)
I think the oil/water prep is the best way to go =)
I totally agree w/ you Kirbie. I love dumplings and make them well BUT it’s SOOO labor intensive and it’s not like friends are breakin’ down your door to help you make them you know?! (BUT they’re sure as quick to eat them!).
I also love pan frying them. My grams taught me to throw in a slurry of flour/water at the end of the frying to get more of that brown crispy lace goodness I so love on the bottom of the dumplings (if that makes any sense – I think you know what I’m talking about).
We just made some shrimp/chive dumplings and they turned out well – but yikes, soo much work. Do you know where I can buy the really big fat frozen dumplings (Korean style I suppose, Mandu?). I tried to find the huge ones at Zion but they didn’t really have any.
Trader Joes actually has a nice Pork dumpling that I’ve been enjoying lately. $2.99 I think per bag which seems a lot more affordable than what I saw in the Asian markets.
I don’t know where to get the big fat dumplings =( Maybe Kirk knows? I never tried the dumplings from Trader Joe’s. I’ll have to try them next time. Yeah..so labor intensive and then they disappear so quickly!
The cripsy bottom does make it taste so much better! I just love pot stickers!