INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

DOUGH
FILLING
TO COOK
SAUCE
In a bowl, combine flour and water, mixing to form a ball. Remove to a
floured board and knead with your palm for about 3 minutes. Shape into a
ball, cover with a damp towel, and let stand for about 10 minutes.
Make the filling by combining the filling ingredients above. Refrigerate
until ready to use.
To shape and assemble, knead dough for about 3 minutes. Roll into a
cylinder that is about 1 inch in diameter. Cut off the ends, then cut into
about 24 pieces, each about 3/4-inch wide. With the cut side up, press the
dough down with your palm to flatten. Use a rolling pin to make pancakes
about 2 1/2 - 3 inches in diameter. (They get quite thin; that's what you
want.) Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of each pancake.
Fold the dough over to make a half circle and pleat the edges firmly
together.
To pan-fry, heat cast-iron or other heavy-bottom skillet over moderate
heat. Add about 3 T oil, swirling to coat bottom. (Watch out, it sizzles
quite a bit. Don't get burned!) When oil is hot, place potstickers, seam
side up, in skillet and agitate (shake) for 30 seconds. Pour in water,
cover and gently boil over moderate heat for 7 to 8 minutes. When oil and
water start to sizzle, add remaining 2 T oil. Tip skillet to distribute oil
evenly; watch carefully (uncovered) to prevent sticking. When bottoms are
brown (usually several minutes later), remove from heat and carefully lift
out potstickers with spatula.
To serve, turn potstickers over (dark side up) and arrange on serving
platter. Combine chili oil, vinegar and soy sauce in proportions to suit
your taste and offer sauce for dipping. Alternatively, cut up a hot chili
pepper into red rice vinegar.
Notes:
* Delicious Northern Chinese snack and hacker's staple -- Hackers on both
coasts and most places in between love potstickers (though if you're from
the Right Coast, you probably know them as Peking Ravioli, or just ravs.
This recipe is based on one found in Chef Chu's Distinctive Cuisine of
China. Total preparation time is about 45 minutes. They don't come out as
good as the ones from Cho's in Mountain View, but if you don't happen to be
within 45 minutes of Mountain View, they'll do very nicely, thank you.
Yield: Makes about 2 dozen.
* You can freeze uncooked potstickers for later use, if you squeeze out the
water from the cabbage during preparation (in a colander or cheesecloth).
Freeze potstickers separately on cookie sheets until firm, then put them in
plastic bags. When rolling out the pancakes, leave the centers slightly
thicker than the edges. A thicker center will hold up better during the
browning.
* If you prefer, steam potstickers for about 12 minutes over boiling water
instead of pan-frying. (No self-respecting hacker would be caught eating
steamed potstickers, though.)
* These are really not hard to make, and come out quite nicely! Following
the dough recipe above leads to a fairly dry and floury dough; this makes
it hard to roll out and pleat. Feel free to add a little more water. There
are also now commercially available potsticker presses that take care of
folding and pleating; they're cheap and plastic and work rather well.
* The perfect potsticker is uniformly brown with a thick brown area on the
bottom (where it sticks to the pot); it seems that achieving this only
comes with practice. I tend to fry both sides a bit before adding the
water; this helps. Beware of too much heat; the bottom will bubble and
crack. This doesn't taste any different, but doesn't look as nice.
continued in part 2

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