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Aug. 20th, 2004 09:36 amThe potstickers were a rousing success. As with nearly anything I make, the actual directions and the directions I use have diverged slightly. Ah, well. For the folks at home (no, I don't want to hear about the super-tasty takeout available to you), here is how you can have a reasonable approximation of potstickers in the privacy of your own home.
Make wrapper dough. 1 part water, 2 parts flour, by volume. I use 1/2 cup water, 1 cup flour, which makes eighteen potstickers (two meals). Make a couple of passes over this with the salt shaker, in a ritualistic sort of way. I could pretend that I measure the salt, but I don't. I hit it with the shaker a bit. Knead until dough is smooth and resists further kneading, adding flour as needed. Divide into halves. Set aside.
Make filling. For nine potstickers (half the dough you just made), take one SMALL wedge of cabbage (for a small head, a quarter of the cabbage. For a big head, half of that.), chop finely. Take one carrot, grate in the big holes on the grater. Combine these two in a frying pan over low heat, add about a teaspoon sesame oil, a splash or two of soy sauce, maybe two tablespoons water, and some salt. Cook until the cabbage is all wilty and mixture is pretty dry. Turn off heat and allow to cool while you roll out the wrappers and make the dipping sauce.
Dipping sauce: In a custard cup (You have these, right? If not, use a very small bowl. Do the best you can.), combine a tablespoon of soy sauce (Of the two choices available at my local grocery, I like Kikkoman. LaChoy tastes burned, or something. It's icky. Kikkoman is better.) and a tablespoon of mirin and about a teaspoon or two of rice vinegar. Stir with finger. Taste finger. Adjust as suits you. Add a couple of small shavings of fresh ginger to the mix and let it sit for a while.
Roll out wrapper dough using a rolling pin. The cookbook directions told me to divide the dough into little balls first and roll out every single little ball individually and, I have to admit, this was amusing in a vaudeville sort of way. I hit each little ball of dough with the rolling pin and it'd stick to and wrap around the rolling pin and the cats would chuckle silently while I swore and removed the little ball of dough, reflattened it, and held it to the counter with one hand while trying to roll it out with the other hand. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy doing, by all means divide the dough up into little balls and proceed in that general direction. Far be it from me to tell you otherwise. However, I only ever try to follow what the recipe says the first time. After that, I feel free to do whatever the hell I want, without justification.
It's easier for me to roll the dough out as one big mass. Use a knife to cut it into 9 squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. My method makes square dumplings instead of the half-moon ones with the pretty folded pleats like you get for takeout. Personally, I do not have any problems with this. I fold up the corners to meet each other and press the edges shut and I'm perfectly happy with my square dumplings.
Take a wrapper. Stretch it slightly with your fingers to make it a bit thinner than it was rolled out. Add a spoonful of filling. Close wrapper around filling, pinch shut. Set aside on a lightly-floured surface so that it won't stick while you're busy fucking around with the rest of them. Repeat for the remaining eight.
About halfway through the business of assembling wrappers and fillings, preheat your cast iron skillet (you do have one, right?) to about 4 on the electric stove dial. Not "halfway on". Slightly below that. Add a teaspoon of crisco.
When the dumplings are assembled, put them, seam sides up, in the frying pan. You should immediately hear sizzle noises. Kind of scoot each dumpling around a little to make sure it isn't sticking.
Cook them (they should all fit... you have a *large* cast iron skillet, right? The home-defense size, I mean.) until medium brown on the bottom. Add 1/3 cup of water to the frying pan (it will make huge gouts of steam and spattery noises. Be brave.) and immediately clap a lid on the pan to keep the steam (the world can be saved by steam) inside.
Continue to cook until the water has mostly boiled off. Remove lid, allow dumplings to crisp somewhat. This takes like a minute or two and they don't really get all that much browner than they were when you started. It'll be all right.
When dumplings are done, remove them to a plate. Eat, dipping in sauce as appropriate.
Also, did you know that it's possible for a bloke to make a living mashing his genitalia into amusing shapes and showing the result to other people? It is. What a world we live in, eh?
Make wrapper dough. 1 part water, 2 parts flour, by volume. I use 1/2 cup water, 1 cup flour, which makes eighteen potstickers (two meals). Make a couple of passes over this with the salt shaker, in a ritualistic sort of way. I could pretend that I measure the salt, but I don't. I hit it with the shaker a bit. Knead until dough is smooth and resists further kneading, adding flour as needed. Divide into halves. Set aside.
Make filling. For nine potstickers (half the dough you just made), take one SMALL wedge of cabbage (for a small head, a quarter of the cabbage. For a big head, half of that.), chop finely. Take one carrot, grate in the big holes on the grater. Combine these two in a frying pan over low heat, add about a teaspoon sesame oil, a splash or two of soy sauce, maybe two tablespoons water, and some salt. Cook until the cabbage is all wilty and mixture is pretty dry. Turn off heat and allow to cool while you roll out the wrappers and make the dipping sauce.
Dipping sauce: In a custard cup (You have these, right? If not, use a very small bowl. Do the best you can.), combine a tablespoon of soy sauce (Of the two choices available at my local grocery, I like Kikkoman. LaChoy tastes burned, or something. It's icky. Kikkoman is better.) and a tablespoon of mirin and about a teaspoon or two of rice vinegar. Stir with finger. Taste finger. Adjust as suits you. Add a couple of small shavings of fresh ginger to the mix and let it sit for a while.
Roll out wrapper dough using a rolling pin. The cookbook directions told me to divide the dough into little balls first and roll out every single little ball individually and, I have to admit, this was amusing in a vaudeville sort of way. I hit each little ball of dough with the rolling pin and it'd stick to and wrap around the rolling pin and the cats would chuckle silently while I swore and removed the little ball of dough, reflattened it, and held it to the counter with one hand while trying to roll it out with the other hand. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy doing, by all means divide the dough up into little balls and proceed in that general direction. Far be it from me to tell you otherwise. However, I only ever try to follow what the recipe says the first time. After that, I feel free to do whatever the hell I want, without justification.
It's easier for me to roll the dough out as one big mass. Use a knife to cut it into 9 squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. My method makes square dumplings instead of the half-moon ones with the pretty folded pleats like you get for takeout. Personally, I do not have any problems with this. I fold up the corners to meet each other and press the edges shut and I'm perfectly happy with my square dumplings.
Take a wrapper. Stretch it slightly with your fingers to make it a bit thinner than it was rolled out. Add a spoonful of filling. Close wrapper around filling, pinch shut. Set aside on a lightly-floured surface so that it won't stick while you're busy fucking around with the rest of them. Repeat for the remaining eight.
About halfway through the business of assembling wrappers and fillings, preheat your cast iron skillet (you do have one, right?) to about 4 on the electric stove dial. Not "halfway on". Slightly below that. Add a teaspoon of crisco.
When the dumplings are assembled, put them, seam sides up, in the frying pan. You should immediately hear sizzle noises. Kind of scoot each dumpling around a little to make sure it isn't sticking.
Cook them (they should all fit... you have a *large* cast iron skillet, right? The home-defense size, I mean.) until medium brown on the bottom. Add 1/3 cup of water to the frying pan (it will make huge gouts of steam and spattery noises. Be brave.) and immediately clap a lid on the pan to keep the steam (the world can be saved by steam) inside.
Continue to cook until the water has mostly boiled off. Remove lid, allow dumplings to crisp somewhat. This takes like a minute or two and they don't really get all that much browner than they were when you started. It'll be all right.
When dumplings are done, remove them to a plate. Eat, dipping in sauce as appropriate.
Also, did you know that it's possible for a bloke to make a living mashing his genitalia into amusing shapes and showing the result to other people? It is. What a world we live in, eh?
