Pot stickers, gyoza, dumplings? Whatever you call them, they are wonderful appetizers… First published this post in Nov 2014, updating the picture and ingredients again today in Mar 2015. I’ll keep refining the recipe as it gets better 🙂 Looks like I make dumplings approximately once a quarter! What’s the occasion? The meat-ball lover is home, and I get lots of help wrapping dumplings. Whatever we did not finish, she took it back to college to be savored next week.

• Prep Time: 2 hour, faster if there are more hands to help wrap the dumplings
• Cook Time: 20 Minutes
• Makes ~ 75 pot stickers

Ingredients:

• 5 cups finely shredded cabbage, use only the leafy parts of the cabbage, napa or savoy cabbage works best. Discard the hard stems.
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cups chives, bottom 2 inches trimmed to remove the hard stem, and finely chopped
  
• 1 cup minced fresh mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
  
• 2 Tbsp minced ginger
  
• 2 tsp miso paste
• 1 lb ground pork
  
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 6 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  
• 75 round gyoza skins, 3 to 4 inches in diameter
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 3 Tbsp warm water

Directions:

1. Mix chopped cabbage and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl and let it stand for half an hour at room temperature.
2. Working in batches, wrap portions of the chopped cabbage in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and squeeze the water out from the chopped cabbage.
3. Mix the chopped cabbage, chives, garlic, ginger, ground pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, salt, sugar, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Mix well.
4. In a small dish, mix 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp water. This is to be used as the ‘glue’ to seal the pot stickers.
5. To wrap the pot stickers, place a gyoza skin in your palm. Place 1 rounded tsp of filling in the center of the skin. Dip one finger into the ‘glue’ and wet the edge of the skin. Use the index fingers and thumbs of both hands to fold the skin and pinch it together.
6. Do ahead tip: Prepare a tray large enough to go in the freezer. Line it with parchment paper. Arrange the dumplings, pinch-side up on the tray, do not overlap. When the tray is filled, place it in the freezer. When dumplings are frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag. Cook the dumplings when needed.
7. Grease and heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the dumplings pinch-side up in the pan. Cook for 1 min without turning the dumplings. Add 1/2 cup water and cover the pan, let the pot sticker simmer in the pan until all the water has evaporated. Continue cooking until the bottom of the pot sticker is golden brown. Do not flip the pot sticker while cooking.
8. Transfer to a plate and serve hot.