Vegetable Pot Stickers {a family affair}

vegetable pot stickers

One of the things that makes family meals fun is getting everybody involved. Husband and I have my sister’s family over for Sunday dinners whenever our schedules cooperate, and most often, it’s a hands-on affair. Sometimes we make our own pizzas, and recently, we tackled homemade ravioli. On “Asian Night”, I might be getting ingredients together for Pad Thai, while I assign the assembly of Vegetable Pot Stickers to my niece and nephew.

It’s pretty liberating when you make that transition from eating something in a restaurant, thinking “I could never make this” to thinking “I bet I could figure this out..”

For me, there is one thing I always order when I find myself in an Asian restaurant: gyoza, a.k.a. potstickers.  I don’t do sushi, but Husband loves it. So one of our latest Saturday night post-church haunts is Raku. I’m not about to try the “Lost Tuna” or the “This-Fish-Is-So-Raw-It’s-Still-Moving-Roll,” but thankfully they do have some options for my less adventurous taste-buds. Besides, this church and dinner date is such a gift to me that if Husband wanted to try a restaurant that served crickets, I’d gladly go.

vegetable pot stickers

Gyoza wrappers {or Pot Sticker Wrappers} are available in most produce sections.  You can buy square {usually for Won Tons} or round. Round is the traditional shape for making these delicious appetizers.

vegetable pot stickers

Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in center of wrapper. Dip your fingers in water and moisten the whole edge of the wrapper. Bring opposite sides together and pinch into a half moon shape – flat on the bottom, with crimped seam on top. Be careful not to poke holes in the wrapper while sealing, and make sure to press out any air bubbles.

You’ll see some recipes where the dumplings are simply steamed. {Healthier option!} You’ll see most where they’re quickly browned on the bottom and then steamed.  That’s how I prefer them.  The browned bottom adds a hint of crunch to the otherwise soft pot sticker.

vegetable pot stickers

Add pot stickers, flat side down, to hot skillet to which a bit of coconut or vegetable oil has been added. Cook, uncovered, just until browned – less than a minute. Then {very carefully – this is going to splash and sizzle!} add about ¾ cup water to the pan and quickly cover. Cook until the water has cooked off {about 3 minutes}.

vegetable pot stickers

Transfer to serving plate with a slotted spatula.

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Vegetable Pot Stickers
 
Ingredients
  • coconut or canola oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced small
  • 1 Tbs minced ginger
  • 1 cup diced shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1 cup shelled edamame
  • ½ cup chopped bean sprouts
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 package wonton skins
  • salt
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in wok or large sauté pan. Add onions, ginger and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the cabbage, carrots, edamame and sprouts. Season with white pepper. Cook, stirring until mixture is soft. Cool the mixture, and place in food processor. Pulse, until mixture is finely chopped, but not a puree {you still want to recognize the ingredients}. Alternatively, transfer to a cutting board and chop fine. Add the sesame oil and cilantro and mix well.
  2. Place round gyoza skins on work surface. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling on each skin. Dip fingers in water, and moisten outside edge of skin. Fold skin in half over filling, squeezing out air and crimping as you seal the edges.
  3. Heat a non-stick skillet with oil. Place dumplings in skillet, flat side down and cook just until bottom gets brown. Carefully add about ¾ cup water and immediately cover. Steam dumplings until the water is completely evaporated {about 3 minutes}.
  4. Serve hot with soy sauce, Sriracha or your favorite Asian condiment.

 

vegetable pot stickers

Serve with your condiments of choice – we like a little Sriracha and Soy Sauce}.

{These are great to make ahead and freeze!  After shaping, freeze on a cookie sheet sprinkled with flour or lined with parchment. Once frozen store in freezer bags until ready to use. Add about 1 minute to steaming time if cooking straight from freezer.}

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