Vegetable Potstickers & Steamed Dumplings

Yum! Savory Chinese dumplings, whether served steamed or boiled then fried to make potstickers I just love them. I've posted about before on my blog, here's the LINK to my previous post.




This weekend my girlfriend Linda and I were talking about San Francisco cook and author Andrea Nguyen's newly released book...


Mine hadn't arrived yet, but Linda already had her copy. It didn't take her long to convince me that I should try Andrea's special technique for making homemade dumpling dough. As she described the incredible pork & vegetable pot stickers she had made for her family from scratch using Andrea's recipe for the dough and the filling my mouth was watering.



Why make dumpling dough from scratch rather than using store bought?Oh, there is just a world of difference in texture on several levels. And the freshness. The dough is so tender and pliable that no water is needed to moisten the edges of the dough when sealing the dumplings.Both of us have made dumplings from scratch before, but as Linda explained, Andrea's method for preparing the dough is different than any we had tried before. She uses the boiling water method; the hot water is quickly combined with the flour, (you can use a bowl and spoon as I did, or a food processor mixed) then it is shaped into a ball and placed in a resealable plastic bag, allowed to rest for 15 minutes to two hours before forming the dumplings. Andrea also suggests flattening the little dough balls with the help of a tortilla press, then continue rolling them with a rolling pin until about 3-1/4" in diameter. The tortilla press isn't really necessary because the dough is really easy to handle, but the tortilla press seemed to made the process go a little faster.

While the dough was resting I put together the vegetables for the filling:


Once the filling is quickly sauteed with seasoning, allow it to then cool then you can begin shaping and filling the dumplings, (or you can make the dough and filling a day ahead then fill the next day if that is more convenient.)




I know if I made them more often they would be more attractive, but you know what? I don't stress about it. They taste just the same, no matter if the pleats are perfect, or not. And you can be assured, they'll be gone shortly after they are cooked anyway. :D....


I prepared half of the batch as pot stickers (par-boiling first, then allow the bottoms to pan crisp in a little oil.) I agree with Linda, this dough recipe is wonderful and my favorite yet. It produces a wrapper with perfect texture, the top is tender yet chewy and the bottom is very nicely browned and crisp.

If you have tried vegetable dumplings before but found them bland or boring, you must try this recipe ~ it is so very flavorful, easily the BEST vegetable dumplings I've ever tasted. I was tempted to skip the dough and just serve the filling over noodles ~ it's wonderful stuff.

The other half I steamed, as you can see in the photo below. Both were delicious, and as much as I love pot stickers I think the vegetarian version was actually better when simply steamed.
I served both styles with Andrea's Tangy Dipping Sauce which goes together in moments, you can make it as spicy or as mild as you like by adjusting the amount of chili oil (or omitting it.)



There are so many recipes that I want to try from Andrea's new book, and I'll definitely share them as I do.I did an internet search and found the recipes for the dough, filling and dipping sauce online at Chow. Here they are if you would like the links ~The Andrea Nguyen recipes I used:Basic Dumpling Dough Vegetable DumplingsTangy Soy Dipping Sauce

It just so happened that the very evening of the afternoon Linda and I were talking, Andrea Nguyen happened to be a guest on a Seattle food talk radio program that I often listen to ~ a fun coincidence.Thank you so much for stopping by today.