Potstickers, Gyoza, Wontons, oh my!

Depending on which culture your eating perspective is from, these meat and vegetable filled dumplings can be fried, boiled, or steamed. Wikipedia would have you believe that the names have different meanings, and they do, but the differences are so insignificant that it really doesn't matter what you call them. On the contrary, gyoza skins are much thicker than wonton wrappers and can hold up to frying a lot better.

The base mix of my family's recipe is ground pork, chopped spinach, and minced chives. Ground pork can be substituted with ground chicken or ground turkey but the latter is leaner than pork. Water or broth has to be added to the mix so that the meat doesn't taste as dry; and ground beef is never used, at least not in any of the restaurants I've been to. My garden's chives aren't all that robust so I didn't cut them for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork
1 lb chopped spinach, drained
1/4 c. minced water chestnuts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 small shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and minced

a small bowl of water

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

I used round gyoza wrappers for this batch. I like the taste/texture of the thicker wrapper (compared to wonton wrappers). If you work quickly, the wrappers won't dry out.

2. In the palm of your hand place one wrapper. Place 1 tsp of the mix into the center of the wrapper.

3. Wet half the edge of the wrapper so that when the wrapper is folded in half, the water helps to seal the edges. Starting from the far right (or left) of the folded over wrapper, crimp the edges by pushing in the wrapper to form valley folds (like origami, only with gyoza wrappers).

Every crimping/sealing style is different and varies from shop to shop. All that matters is that the edges are sealed so that when the dumpling cooks, its juices do not spill out.

4. Set aside on a plate or tray and complete the rest of the wrappers.

All lined up and ready for cooking

To cook by boiling:

Bring a pot (with a lid) to boil. Add the raw dumplings and boil until all the dumplings float. It is possible to overcook the dumplings (the dough starts to disintegrate). Take them out after the pot returns to a full boil.

To cook by frying:

In a skillet or frying pan (with a lid), heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil until hot. Turn heat down to medium and add the dumplings in a single layer. After 2-3 minutes, check the dumplings and see if the bottoms are lightly browned. If so, turn every dumpling to an un-browned side.

Add about 1/4 c. of water to the pan and quickly cover with a lid. The hot steam will cook the dumpling. When the frying sounds less fierce (e.g., the water has mostly steamed off), remove dumplings when the water has mostly boiled off.

Remove dumplings from pan and serve. About 8-10 dumplings is a typical serving size.

View more pics.

Basic Wontons

This is a family recipe and can be used as a soup, an appetizer, or as an entire meal. Where my parents learned it, I don’t know. But I do know that I have been using this recipe and variants of it for the past N or so years. The recipe originally calls for ground pork; this one is modified so that it can accommodate ground turkey (which fries drier than pork).

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Gyoza skins (round or square)
1/2 c. minced fresh chives (optional)
1 lb. ground turkey (or pork)
1 pkg. chopped spinach 
2 tbsp. kelp granules (optional)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp. lite soy sauce (or regular, if you like salt)
1/4 c. chicken broth or water (omit if using pork) 
Oil for frying (grape seed or canola works best)

1. In a large bowl, mix turkey, spinach, and chives until well mixed. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and kelp granules. Mix. Add chicken broth until the mixture looks a little mushy, but not runny. If there is too much liquid in the mix, they won’t hold up well when you fry the wontons.

2. Take one Gyoza skin and place a teaspoon of the mixture in the center. Moisten half the edge of the skin on one side with water. Fold in half. At this stage, you don’t need to worry about aesthetics or style. Repeat until you have enough to cover the area of a frying pan; or until there is no more mix or skins.

Frying method: 

Ideally, you’d want to place them in a non-stick frying pan or use a cast iron pan; actually any frying pan with a lid that covers the entire pan will work just as well. About 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil should be enough per batch. Spread the oil so it evenly covers the pan. Heat pan on a medium setting. When the bottom of the wontons are brown, turn wontons over. Cover with lid. Wait a few moments. Add about 1/8 cup water or less to wontons. Cover with lid. When all the water has either evaporated or absorbed, they’re done! Total cook time should be no more than 6 minutes on a medium heat setting.

Soup method:

When the soup comes to a boil, drop prepared wontons in. Simmer until the wontons float to the surface. Add 1/2 cup cold water, then bring up to boil again. Voila! Soup is done.

Dipping sauce:

Basic sauce that tastes good can be as simple as just vinegar; or vinegar and soy sauce. Equal parts of vinegar to soy sauce. Everything else (kelp, ginger, scallions) are in whatever quantity you want.

#1: rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, kelp granules
#2: balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, minced ginger
#3: apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, finely sliced scallions

End notes:

Gyoza (Japanese) or wonton (Chinese) skins can be picked up in the refrigerated section of any supermarket. Kelp granules from the Whole Foods market or similar health food store.