Wor Teep
These are the pot stickers popular in Shanghai and many other southern Chinese cities. Panfried until crisp on the bottom and then cooked through by steaming, they have a delicious combination of crunch and chew in the dough and a springy, flavorful center. They are best served hot out of the pan (but beware of their tongue-burning juices!). Gyoza is the Japanese version of this type of dumpling and mandoo the Korean version. They may be filled with pork or have a vegetarian stuffing; usually, their skin is somewhat thinner. You can buy gyoza or mandoo skins at the market or just roll the Chinese skins a little thinner yourself. Dumplings may be filled and dusted with flour and refrigerated, covered, for a couple of hours or frozen for a few days. But they’re really best when cooked right after being filled. Leeks are usually full of sand. The easiest way to clean them in this recipe is to chop them, rinse in a strainer, and shake dry.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 24 dumplings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the first 11 ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly. Place about 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of a wrapper, then moisten the edge of the wrapper with water and fold over to form a half-moon. Press the seam tightly to seal; it’s best if no air is trapped between the filling and wrapper. Set on a lightly floured plate or wax paper.paper. (At this point you may cover tightly and refrigerate for up to a day or freeze for a couple of weeks.)
Step 2
Coat a large, deep skillet with a thin layer of oil and turn the heat to medium-high. Place the dumplings, one at a time, into the skillet, seam side up, leaving space between them (you will probably have to cook them in two batches). Turn the heat to medium, then cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, then cover and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat to high, and cook until the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove the dumplings and serve with the dipping sauce. (Repeat to cook all the pot stickers if necessary.)
Vegetarian Gyoza
Step 3
Substitute 1/2 pound drained and mashed soft tofu for the meat. Cut the amount of leeks in half and add 1/4 cup shredded Napa cabbage, 1/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms, 1/4 cup shredded carrot, and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts to the filling.
Mandoo
Step 4
Use pork or beef for the meat. Omit the leeks. Add 1/4 cup minced scallion, 1/4 cup minced mushrooms, 1/4 cup minced carrot, and 1/4 cup chopped soaked bean thread vermicelli to the filling. Double the amount of black pepper.
Steamed Dumplings
Step 5
Set up a steamer or place a heatproof plate on a rack above 1 to 2 inches of boiling water in a covered pot. Lightly oil the steamer or plate to prevent sticking. Steam the dumplings in one or two batches for about 10 minutes per batch. Serve immediately with Soy Dipping Sauce (page 583).
