Potstickers (Chinese Pan Fried Dumplings)

To begin, moisten the edge of a round potsticker wrapper. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.

Now, I’m gonna show you two ways to form the dumplings.

The first, and more traditional way is to form Chinese dumplings by “pleating” the edge.

To do this, gather the two sides together and lightly press together just at the top.

Then, put a small fold, or pleat, in the edge closest to you.

Repeat until edges are fully sealed.

Repeat with the rest of the dumplings. I consider this technique a little fussy. It takes time. And if, like me, you’re bugged by imperfect looking dumplings (which are almost inevitable) you might want to try the next method.

The second way to form dumplings is a little simpler. It starts the same: moisten the edge of the wrapper and place filling in the center.

Now, fold the wrapper over to make a half moon, flat on the work surface. Use a fork to seal the edges all the way around the dumpling.

Repeat with the rest of the dumplings. As you can probably tell, this technique is much faster and less likely to raise your blood pressure, LOL.

Chinese dumplings are cooked in a unique way, a combination of steaming and frying. First, we fry. Heat a large flat skillet with oil. When the oil is hot, add the dumplings.

For pleated dumplings, I set the bottom edge down first. The fork sealed dumplings only have 2 “sides” so go ahead and place down on one of the (mostly) flat sides.

These cook very quickly, it only takes about 2 minutes to start to brown. Here, too, there are two directions to go.

The first option: Usually, this is when you steam. To do this, add about two tablespoons of water to the pan and cover immediately. Steam the dumplings for 1-2 minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the water fully evaporates. Remove dumplings from pan.

The second option: In this house we like our dumplings extra-crispy LOL. It’s probably less authentic but it is utterly delicious. So before steaming, I brown a second side of the dumplings.

This is actually where the pleated dumplings are easier, because I can just tip them over. The fork sealed dumplings need to be turned. It’s a minor difference, but it’s noticeable when trying to quickly turn a bunch of little dumplings in a pan.

Once that second side is brown (again, only a minute or two) steam the dumplings 1-2 minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the water is fully evaporated. Remove dumplings from pan.

Potstickers need dipping sauce! Usually, this is a combination of soy sauce and sesame oil. But what we simply love is duck sauce, found on most grocery shelves. It’s the same sweet sauce that goes so well with egg rolls. So good!

The combination of an extra-crispy dough and the sweet duck sauce made these irresistible. They are like little pillows of dough stuffed with yummy filling!

The Carnivore tends to be less enthusiastic than I for Chinese takeout. But these? He DEVOURED the potstickers.

Tofu or pork, he didn’t care. He inhaled every. single. one.

Give these potstickers a try – they are fun to make AND eat.