Lisa’s Famous Potstickers

Home cooked perfection…better than any restaurant!   The assembly of the potstickers is a little fussy but, if you are organized, totally worth it. They are amazing right out of the pot and cold too.   I served these at my first ever pot luck and there was not one left.

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup Tamari
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 scallion, sliced thinly

Potstickers
1 8 oz package of plain tempeh, grated
1/2 of a small green cabbage, diced up
3 or 4 scallions, white and green parts sliced thinly
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons Tamari
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 package of round vegan won ton or dumpling wrappers (I have to get these in a kosher supermarket.  Most wrappers have egg in them so be careful to read the ingredients.)

Makes about 2 dozen potstickers

Make the sauce first.  It is easy: combine all the ingredients. 

Grate the tempeh using a standard hand grater.  In a pan with sides, brown the tempeh in high heat oil like safflower.  When it is done, place in a mixing bowl.  Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the cabbage until it is translucent.  Add to the tempeh mixture.   Add the scallions, rice wine and tamari to the mixture and combine.  Sprinkle the mixture with the cornstarch (to absorb any excess water from the cabbage when the potstickers are cooking.) 

To make the potstickers, set up your assembly line:
#1 – Won ton wrappers (place them on a wet paper towel and cover with another wet towel until ready to use) 
#2 – Bowl of water
#3 – Tempeh mixture
#4 – Assembly plate
#5 – Completed potsticker plate

Take a wrapper and wet around the edge with your finger.  Put a heaping teaspoonful of mixture in the middle.  Fold it in half on the plate and press down to seal the edges.  Then pick it up and press it to make sure the whole thing is sealed. 

Once you have assembled enough to fit in your pan, start the pot-sticking procedure.  I use a non-stick pan that has a lid.  Pour in some high heat oil and heat it up.  Put as many as you can fit into the pan with enough room to turn them over and they are not touching.  Fry them for a few minutes (you can check to see how done they are.  The wrapper starts to pucker a bit and get that crispy browness.  As you cook the next few batches, they will get more and more well done!)

This next part is the key to potsticker perfection: you have to add a little water, say 1/3 of a cup depending on your pan, and steam them with the lid closed for a minute or two to completely cook the wrappers.   This is a little messy/scary as the oil splatters when you pour the water in.  I tried it in a non-stick pan and it was worse.  Hold the lid in front of you and pour the water in on the side and the close the lid.  You will get the hang of it by the second or third round.  So, pour the water in and cover immediately with the lid.  Let them steam for a two or three minutes.  Take them out and drain them on a plate with a paper towel.  You can dab the top too to get the excess oil off. 

Serve the with the dipping sauce (allow for double dipping).  And they are great cold, too.  Enjoy!