Guotie Pot Stickers - A Recipe

 I love potstickers.  I've made them a few times, but I always felt they weren't quite right - like something was missing.  This recipe looks so easy that I'm gonna give it another go!

The word for “pot stickers” in Chinese is guotie, literally “pot-stick,” a name they have earned from their
cooking method. Chinese cooks first steam guotie in giant flat-bottomed iron pans. When all the water is
absorbed by the dumplings, they are left in the pan to get crispy and “stick” to the pan. We recommend
using a nonstick skillet when making these so that the dumplings don’t actually stick to the pan forever.
These Guotie Pot Stickers make amazing appetizers served with the dipping sauce. We like to make more
dumplings than we can eat and freeze the extra for later.

Makes about 36 dumplings

Dipping Sauce
1 cup Chinese black rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Dumplings
12 ounces ground beef or ground pork
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
3/4 cup minced green onions, green and white parts
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Pinch of salt
About 36 round Dumpling Wrappers
(purchased premade, or see page 258)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

To make the dipping sauce, whisk together the black rice vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, cilantro, soy sauce,
and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

To make the dumplings, combine the meat, soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger, green onions, sugar, sesame oil,
and salt in a bowl and stir in one direction with a chopstick until just mixed. Fill a small bowl with some
water.  Hold a dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand and place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in the
center.  Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run it around the edge to help make a good seal.  Lightly
fold the wrapper over on itself, but don’t touch the edges together. Starting at one end, use your fingers
to make a small pleat on the side of the wrapper closest to you, then press the pleat into the other side
and pinch together firmly.  Keep making pleats down the dumpling opening in this way until completely
sealed (see Dumpling Folding Tips on page 255).  Repeat this process with the remaining filling and
wrappers. Freeze any dumplings that you don’t intend to cook immediately (see Dumpling Freezing Tips
on page 256).

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place 12 dumplings
pleat side up in the pan so that they are just touching each other. Cover and cook for 1 minute. Decrease
the heat to medium-low, pour 1/4 cup of the water into the pan, and cook, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes,
until all the water is absorbed by the dumplings and their bottoms are crusty brown. Repeat this process 2
more times with the remaining dumplings, oil, and water. Serve the dumplings with a side of the dipping
sauce.

—From Feeding the Dragon: A Culinary Travelogue Through China with Recipes by Nate and Mary
Kate Tate/Andrews McMeel Publishing.  Published with permission.