Recipe for Chinese Pork Dumplings, a.k.a. Potstickers

This is a guaranteed, no fail, party pleaser. I promise you that your long prep time will be rewarded with oohs and ahhs from your lucky dinner guests. This may sound like a lot of hot air, but I speak from personal experience. People love these things!

Part of the appeal must be the novelty of having them at home. Potstickers are usually found at your local Chinese restaurant. These little appetizers are actually quite healthy, especially when steamed. I usually fry half the batch and steam the rest. You can whip up a few dipping sauces with just soy sauce and vinegar. One dish with straight soy, one with both, one with just cider vinegar. Yum!

What You'll Need

* 3/4 pound pork cutlet, trimmed and minced
* 6 oz Napa cabbage, minced. This is about 2 cups of loosely packed, minced cabbage
* 42 dumpling (Gyoza) wrappers
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
* 2 pinches sugar
* pinch salt
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil

What To Do

Wash your cabbage and discard any wilted, outer leaves.

Peel most of the large leaves from the cabbage stop when you get to the small, inner leaves. Stack the leaves in 3 neat piles, this will make them easier to handle.

Finely mince the cabbage, adding a pinch of salt to help draw out some of the liquid.

When all the cabbage is minced, you'll want to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Cheesecloth works great for this. You should get about 1/4 cup of liquid. Discard this.

Now you'll want to trim and mince your pork cutlets. Just remove all the fat and mince the pork until it is basically ground like hamburger.

In a mixing bowl combine the cabbage, pork, soy, vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. Mix thoroughly.

Now you are ready to fill your dumplings. If you can't find the at you local grocery, look for an oriental market.

For each dumpling moisten a wrapper then place a small mound of the mixture in the center. Don't use too much or the dumpling won't seal properly.

Fold the skin over and press firmly to seal. You can make a fluted edge by slightly folding the edge several times.

Place on a baking sheet dusted with cornstarch. They don't call these potstickers for nothing, these things are sticky.

Repeat that about 40 times and your ready to cook.

Place several dumplings in a lightly oiled bamboo steamer and steam for about 4 minutes. The dumplings will turn translucent when they're ready to eat.

Serve immediately if not sooner! Definitely best when served fresh from the steamer.