babs@jfwhome.funhouse.com (Babs Woods) (03/19/91)
I collected these ages ago when I was still in more frequent contact
with these folks. (Let's hope my inclusion of the net.addresses
doesn't cause problems with multiple-repeat posts.) I had to
reconstruct some of the text from the memory of how we make them at
home, since the text has gotten munged over time somehow. My thanks to
all of my friends for having sent these out in the first place.
Credit where credit is due Department.:
Date: 26 Dec 84 From: "David E. Goldfarb" <DEG@SCRC-QUABBIN.ARPA>
[Mijjil (Matt Lecin) requested that someone resend the following
recipe, since he couldn't find his copy. This is Dave's reply.]
"Here's a typical Northern Chinese pastry that's well-known and
prepared throughout the world. Though eaten as a snack in China, I
find that most Americans serve potstickers as an appetizer."
Makes: about 2 dozen Cooking time: 15 minutes
Prep time: 35 minutes
Dough Ingredients
-----------------
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
Filling
-------
.5 lb ground pork
.5 small head Chinese (Napa) cabbage, cored and chopped
1 green onion, coarsely chopped
2 thumb-sized slices fresh ginger, minced
2 water chestnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
.5 teaspoon sugar
Pinch white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
For cooking
-----------
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water
Sauce
-----
Hot chili oil
Red rice vinegar
Soy Sauce
In a bowl, combine flour and water, mixing to form a ball. Remove
to a floured board and knead with palm of hand for about 3 minutes.
Shape into a ball, cover with damp towel; [....text munged....... From
memory: let the dough rest several minutes. Divide dough into about 2
dozen balls, cover those you aren't working with or have already rolled
out. Roll out each ball so that the center is a little thicker than
the edges, since it forms the dumpling bottom. Do this with your
hands.
Fill each wrapper with about 2t filling, fold each circle in
half over the filling and crimp the edges together. Use a little
cornstarch dissolved in water to glue them shut. Place them on a
plate, bottom down, as you make them, until you have enough to start
cooking them.
Heat the pan with a little oil in the bottom to coat it, add
the ravs and then add enough water or broth to cover the bottom of the
pan. Cover and cook until the water is gone. Remove the cover and
continue cooking,] watch carefully (uncovered) to prevent sticking.
When bottoms are brown, remove from heat and carefully lift out
potstickers with spatula.
To serve, turn potstickers over (dark side up) and arrange on
serving platter. Combine chili oil, vinegar, and soy sauce in
proportions to suit your taste and offer sauce for dipping.
-- Notes --
1. You can freeze uncooked potstickers for later use, but remember to
squeeze out the water from cabbage during preparation (in a colander or
cheesecloth). Freeze potstickers separately on cookie sheets until
firm, then put them in plastic bags.
2. When rolling out the pancakes, leave the centers slightly thicker
than the edges. A thicker center will hold up better during the
browning.
3. If you prefer, steam potstickers for about 12 minutes over boiling
water instead of pan-frying.
--cak's comments-- [Chris A. Kent]
These are really not hard to make, and come out quite nicely!
Following the dough recipe above leads to a fairly dry and floury
dough; this makes it hard to roll out and pleat. Feel free to add a
little more water.
There is no way that a tablespoon of filling fits into a 2-1/2 inch
pancake; four inches is more like it. This makes the pancakes quite
thin, but that's what you want, anyway.
The first time I cooked these, I was really surprised by the reaction
when I added the water to the oil; it sizzles quite a bit. This is, of
course, to be expected, but I didn't realize it until after I had been
startled by it.
I haven't been able to get my potstickers to come out uniformly brown
with a thick brown area on the bottom, the way Cho's does, but I'm
getting there. I tend to fry both sides a bit before adding the water;
this helps. Beware of too much heat; the bottom will bubble and
crack.
This doesn't taste any different, but doesn't look as nice. I find
that several minutes usually elapse after adding the last oil; the
recipe reads as if you might have to remove the things almost
immediately.
If you don't cook the whole batch at once, try to store the potstickers
so that they don't touch; the dough tends to stick to itself, so the
potstickers may tear as you remove them.
I didn't have much luck with the suggested sauce recipe; I usually take
a hot chile pepper and cut it up into white vinegar (I haven't bought
the red rice vinegar yet -- that might be better). This approximates
the sauce I'm used to.
----------
(From a random Chinese cookbook)
(Collection of Babs Woods)
Peking ravioli
Wrapping
2 C flour
1/2 C water
Sift flour. Add water, mix well, gather into ball. Let sit,
covered with a cloth, 25 minutes. Knead thoroughly on a floured board;
shape into several long strips. Cut each into several chestnut-size
pieces, about 30 altogether. Shape each into a ball and roll into thin
3" round patties.
If joa tze (Peking Ravioli, pot stickers) are to be fried, use
hot water in dough.
Fillings
(Boiled)
2 slices ginger root, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 lb ground pork (or beef)
1 C chopped Chinese celery cabbage (or chopped frozen spinach)
1 T light soy sauce
(1/2 t salt)
1 t sherry
1 t cornstarch
1/4 t sesame oil
30 wrappings
Mix filling thoroughly. Fill each wrapper with about a
teaspoon of mixture in middle. Fold over wrapper and shape in a
half-circle, press the edge tightly closed.
Put joa tze into 3 qts boiling water. Bring to a boil again
and add 1 C cold water. Repeat when the water is boiling again. After
third boil, remove and serve.
(Fried)
2 T peanut oil
1/4 ground pork
1/2 lb shrimp (or all pork)
2 C chopped Chinese celery cabbage
3 slices ginger root, chopped
2 T chopped scallion
1-1/2 T light soy sauce
(1/2 t salt)
1 t sherry
1 t corn starch
1/4 t sesame oil
wrappings
1/3 C soup stock (or chicken broth)
(Shell and devein shrimp, mince.) Parboil celery cabbage in
boiling water 1 minute, drain. Mix everything but the broth, wrappers
and oil thoroughly. Fill, fold and seal wrappers.
Heat a pan (wok) until very hot, add oil, turn off heat.
Arrange a single layer of pot stickers in the pan. Cover. Brown
bottoms over low heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in half the stock
(broth), cover, cook 5 minutes. Pour in the rest of the broth, cook 1
more minute. (You don't need to turn them while they are cooking.)
Serve with "rav sauce", which see.
[Ravs, as we call them, can be made with scrambled eggs, for vegetarian
ravs, or you can use ground or minced raw chicken, beef or shrimp;
instead. Babs.]
"Rav sauce"
Approximately the following:
In a small bowl, combine:
1/4C soy sauce
1/2t sesame oil
1T ginger root (chopped finely)
1-2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed or chopped finely)
1-2t chopped scallion (green part)
hot oil and vinegar, to taste
This is sometimes sweetened with brown sugar and crushed red
pepper is also sometimes added.
_____________________
From Colleen's (and Colleen's cooking classes) via my friend
Glenn S. Burke comes this definitive recipe for rav sauce:
[T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon]
2T dark soy sauce
4T water
1t vinegar
1T chopped garlic
1/2 T chopped ginger
1t hot oil
1t hot oil paste
white pepper
Let sit a day (refrigerated).