Wo ai jiaozi

This is a spin off of the wontons I posted about last week. This is the potsticker/gyoza/jiaozi version. I actually prefer the pan-fried dumplings better than soup--but that's kind of a given, since fried always makes everything better. These use the exact same filling as the wontons, but you need to used the round thick gyoza skins rather than square thin wonton skins. They hold up much better during the cooking process and are thick enough to fry just perfectly. Ideally, we normally make our own dough. It's just a mix of flour and water. I was lazy and was not in the mood to mess with that tonight, so we just used good quality (emphasis on GOOD QUALITY) store bought skins.

There is also an art to pleating your dumplings. According to JC, if you don't pleat them, they're not real potstickers. This is a different fold than if you are doing soup dumplings. I've tried to find a site that explains how we do ours, and this is the best I could do with Appetite for China. It is not exactly how we do ours, but it's fairly similar. Here is how we pleat in our house:

The secret to making perfect jiaozi is to boil them and then pan fry them. By boiling them, you cook the meat and make the skins nice and soft, then you give them a quick toss in hot oil just to crisp up the skin, and you've got perfection.

These are one of my favorite go-to dishes. It's a great dish to keep in your recipe book at an easy reach.

*JC found a website that has instructions on how we pleat. It has pretty straight forward, step-by-step instructions complete with pictures. Really it doesn't matter how you fold these little guys, they will always taste delicious! Tess's Japanese Kitchen

Jiaozi

For the wontons:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp dry sherry
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 package GOOD gyoza skins plus 1 egg for sealing

For the dipping sauce:

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. chopped green onions

• Vegetable oil for frying

Mix all of the wonton ingredients together. Assemble filling with the gyoza skins and have fun pleating. Start a pot of boiling water. Gently place dumplings in boiling water and remove them as they start to float (that's when you know they're done). Be careful not to overcook them or they will get soggy and fall apart. Heat oil in a pan and place boiled dumplings in. They will splatter, so use a splatter screen if you have one. Cook on each side until browned and crispy. Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together and eat with the piping hot dumplings.

*The dumplings can easily be frozen before you boil them. When you want to reheat them, remove them from the freezer and boil them to soften again. Then you can pan fry them up and eat eat eat.

JC showing off his skillz in the kitchen