What did you do during the Super Bowl?

You didn’t actually watch the game, did you?

The wife and I turned on the game and then went into the kitchen to make potstickers. When the commercial breaks started my daughter would say “Daddy! Football over!” and we would stop folding wonton skins and watch the ads.

The potstickers were delicious. We make a ton of them, so it’s a good thing that they turned out.

Recipe in the extended entry

Potsticker Filling:

1/ 2 pound ground pork
1/ 2 Bell pepper, minced
1 bunch green onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano chile, minced
About a half inch knob of ginger root, grated
1 Tablespoon black bean paste
Splash of lemon juice

A supply of stock/broth, I use my homemade veggie stock. Water is ok, but lacks the extra flavor stock brings.

Process:

Brown the ground pork, salt and pepper it as it hits the pan. Set aside.
Stir fry the bell pepper, onion, garlic, ginger and chile until is smells fantastic in your kitchen
Add the black bean paste, lemon juice and enough water to dilute it into a thin sauce.
Cook down until it thickens a bit (about 5 minutes) and add the pork
Stir to combine well.
Let the mixture cool for easier handling.

Get out the wonton skins, a half teaspoon measure and a small bowl of water. Wet two edges of the skin and put a scoop of the filling in the center. It does not look like much, but trust me, it is. Fold the dry edges to the wet ones, pressing out as much air as you can. Make sure the seam is sealed well and do any fancy-pants pleating you like. Keep your finished dumplings covered with a damp towel.

I don’t have a non-non-stick pan with a tight fitting lid, so I used my favorite “big ‘ol pan” with no trouble. What the heck do you call a "non-non-stick pan" anyway? Stick?

The bigger the pan the more you will be able to do at once.

Get the pan smokin’ hot and brush a touch of olive oil (or better yet bacon grease or schmaltz) all over the surface. Not too much, we are not sautéing the dumplings. Place dumplings in the pan with plenty of room between each one. DO NOT TOUCH, MOVE or HASSLE them for at least 1 1/ 2 minutes, you WANT them to char a bit on the bottom. Next, toss in enough stock to cover the bottom of the pan and clamp the lid down tight. It should bubble, steam and spit right away, don’t be alarmed. Wait another minute and remove the finished dumplings. Stash them in a foil pouch and repeat until all the dumplings are done.

Good luck!




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