This is not a recipe you want to try after a busy day, but rather on a lazy afternoon with a friend or two. One of those, "Hey, let's make something new and fun for dinner" moments. They are not at all hard to make, but do take up some time. You can buy the won-ton wrappers in larger grocery stores (as I did in this example, made on a Friday night after a long work week), but I think the homemade ones are about 10x better AND easier to work with.
For the Pot Stickers, you will need:
1/2 head Napa or regular cabbage, finely chopped.
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 pound ground pork
2 T grated and diced fresh ginger
1/2 of a carrot, grated and diced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 heaping T of minced garlic
1 T soy sauce
1 T fish sauce (avail. at larger supermarkets)
3 tsp Sesame oil (asian section of market)
1 egg
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1 cup Chicken Broth
Oil - Wok or Olive
Start by slicing and dicing up the cabbage very finely. Put the cabbage in a large bowl, stir well with the salt and set aside for about an hour. The salt leeches moisture out of the cabbage, which is important. After an hour, put the cabbage on a clean dish towel or on cheesecloth and twist and squeeze as much moisture out of the cabbage as possible. Next, squeeze out the moisture from the onion and ginger as well.
Now mix the rest of the ingredients together in the large bowl with the cabbage, onion and garlic. Take a won ton sheet and cut it into 4 squares, or if using your own won tons, cut out a circle from the dough with a standard soup can with the lid removed as a 'cookie cutter'. Place a ping-pong ball sized piece of the meat mixture on the wonton, fold over and pinch together and seal. Having a little finger bowl of water is handy, for wetting your fingers makes this a lot easier. Set each aside on a cookie sheet until you have used up all of the won tons and meat, or you've just decided that you've made enough.
Now heat a skillet to medium-high heat with about 2-3 T of oil in the bottom spread evenly. Stand the potstickers up on end (flattening them on end on the counter first helps) and arrange in the skillet. Turn a bit this way and that to brown the outsides, then pour a little (1/4 to 1/3 cup) of the chicken broth in the pan and cover, to steam them. When the broth has been absorbed, remove with spatula and set aside, wipe out the pan and re-oil for another batch! Keep the finished ones warm in the oven.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Homemade Won Tons:1 egg
1/3 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the water.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Create a well in the center of the mixture and slowly pour in the egg and water. Mix well. If the mixture is too dry, increase the amount of water one teaspoon at a time until a pliable dough has formed.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until elastic. Split into 3 balls. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Take each ball and roll it out on a floured surface about as thin as you can get it. Then take a standard sized empty soup can and, using like a cookie cutter, cut out circles and use like you would the wonton squares above. I like the circles better than the squares, and I like these better than the store bought ones.
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For the Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar (or regular vinegar with 1/8 tsp sugar)
1-2 tsp Sesame Oil, to taste
1 tsp minced garlic
1 T white wine, to taste.
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