Homemade Potstickers and Dipping Sauce

I love Asian food and dumplings of all kinds are definitely in my top five favorite Asian foods. Wontons, dumplings, gyoza— I love them all. Only when I was taking this photo of the ones I made did I realize how weird they must look to people who've never heard of them before. They're so delicious but at the same time look like slimy little skin bags. Now that I've said that, you're probably never going to look at potstickers the same. Sorry.

I used to get the potstickers from the frozen section of the grocery store to snack on, and for a while it was a staple every time I'd have friends over, no matter whose house we went to. All of us had them on hand at all times. I had never made them from scratch and while it seemed like an extremely difficult process, I looked up a few recipes and realized it wasn't as daunting as it sounded. This recipe yielded about 50-60 potstickers, of which I made 20 and froze the rest. 

Pork Potstickers/Chinese Dumplings

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 leaves napa cabbage (finely cut)
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 inches ginger (grated)
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 chives, diced
• 1 pack potsticker skins (choose the thickest brand or make your own)
• Oil for pan-frying
• 1/2 cup water

Combine the ground pork, chopped napa cabbage, ginger, carrot, leeks and seasonings together. Set aside.
Place a small spoonful of the filling in the center of the potsticker skin. Dab a little water with your finger and circle around the edge of the skin, and then fold and pleat the potsticker accordingly. Repeat until filling is gone or all skins have been filled. (Here's a video / guide for folding/pleating potstickers)

To pan fry the potstickers, coat a frying pan with a little cooking oil and turn to medium heat. Place the dumplings on the frying pan and then turn the heat to high. Pan fry the potstickers until the bottoms turn golden brown and crisp. Add the water and cover the frying pan with its lid immediately. Cook until water has evaporated and turn the heat to low. Cook the potstickers for another 2 minutes or so, dish out and serve hot with dipping sauce.


Simple Dipping Sauce

• 4 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 pinches brown sugar
• a dab of sesame oil
• a few drops rice wine vinegar
• 2 drops sriracha (depends on how spicy you like it)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl / serving dish. Stir until brown sugar has dissolved.Garnish with sesame seeds or chives. Serve with potstickers.