Sunday, June 14, 2009

Daring Cooks: Potstickers

Shrimp Potstickers

Here's my second Daring Cooks challenge. This round is hosted by Jen of the fabulous Use Real Butter. I swear, no one paid me to say that. I just think Jen's site is amazingly beautiful.

I have been wanting to make my own dumplings for a while. I knew it could be time consuming, but in my brief period of unemployment this was exactly the type of cooking I was excited to do...and that is when I made them. The catch with these was that we had to even made the dumpling skins from scratch. I found them easy to make, but with the rolling and folding...well, let me just say this is not something to attempt when you are hungry.

Shrimp Potstickers

I had some shrimp in my freezer so I went with a simple shrimp filling that I found on Everyday Food. These came together very easily even with the time it took. My only problem was that I cooked my second batch in a stainless steel pan and many of the potstickers stuck to the bottom of the pan. Although they were kind of a bitch to scrape off, they were really delicious. I whipped the dipping sauce together quickly because by the time they were ready I was starving. It is a bit difficult remember by now, but it was a mix of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, agave nectar, red pepper flakes, and green onions. I'm pretty sure there was grated ginger in there too. Basically just add each to taste. One of the things that helped me a lot with this was Jen's step-by-step tutorial on her site from making these a while back. That's where you can find the dough recipe. The filling recipe is below.

Potsticker Dipping Sauce

Dumpling Filling
(From Everyday Food)

1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 large egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons chili oil, or 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil mixed with a pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 medium carrot, grated
3/4 cup finely chopped (about 2 ounces) Napa cabbage
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 small scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced (about 1 small) shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Coarsely chop half of the shrimp by hand, and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine remaining shrimp, egg white, chili oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Puree into a smooth paste. Transfer to a medium bowl, add chopped cilantro, reserved chopped shrimp, carrot, cabbage, ginger, scallions, shallots, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

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32 comments:

Unknown said...

love the shrimp filling! and thanks for introducing me to jen's site :) gorgeous photos and mouthwatering recipes!

Carol said...

Those potstickers look fantastic!

The Food Librarian said...

Yum! These look better than any restaurant!

Kana said...

Way better than take out!

Lisa said...

GORGEOUS! You got that dough nice and thin resulting in beautiful, translucent potstickers! They look delicious!

Mary Bergfeld said...

These look really delicious. You did a really great job with the pleating. As we say ...they look good enough to eat.

kellypea said...

These looked like they turned out pretty nicely! And congrats to you for completing the 2nd challenge. I did the first one late, never posted it and sadly, forgot about this one until yesterday. :(

Simones Kitchen said...

Oo, you've done really well on the potstickers and you managed to make the wrappers so thin!! At least by looking at them I can see the filling almost through the dough so that means they must have been thin. That was the part I thought was most difficult, but yours certainly look delicious

Pearl said...

they look so delicious!

Alicia Foodycat said...

They look amazing! I love potstickers, but I have always thought that it was just easier to buy them frozen... and if you found them tricky I can't say I am convinced!

vanillasugarblog said...

ohhh Esi I had to stop by and tell you how fabulous these look. I could drink that sauce! I know gross, but I do love my dipping sauces.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

What a nice potsticker you made. Looks delicious.

Jen Yu said...

Well, I for one think they look great and you did such a nice job with a thin wrapper :) Sorry about the sticking to the bottom thing. I've never used my stainless pans for that very reason... but still, you rocked it. Congrats!

Cathy said...

Love the idea of shrimp rather than a pork filling. I'm going to have to try these.

Erica said...

mmmmmmmmmmm! I have never homemade potstickers and I love love them! Great recipe. Hope your Sunday night is treating you well!

Reeni said...

These look perfect, Esi! I am so impressed that you made the skins for them, too. They look really delicious!!!

Christine said...

Those look REALLY delicious! And that sauce.... MMmmmmmMMMmmm. Gonna have to give this one a try!

angela@spinachtiger said...

They are so beautiful. Oh I want potstickers so badly now...You did it. You made me hungry and I just ate.

Esi said...

You are all too kind. Thank you so much for your nice words.

Thistlemoon said...

I love potstickers and I haven't made them in a really long time! I think this is another good idea to make with the girls when they come!

Maria said...

I am loving your potstickers! Wish I had some for lunch!

Diana said...

Those look restaurant-worthy! I'm so impressed! I don't think I'd ever be able to make these -- even if I were completely full and not frazzled about making them quickly so I could eat, I'd probably screw them up!

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Ooh, that looks good Esi. I tried pot stickers once and really liked them. I'll have to make them. Do you think I could use wonton wrappers instead though? Hmh? I'll experiment.

The Blonde Duck said...

Those look fabulous!

Esi said...

Teresa, you could use premade wonton wrappers and fry them (they would be different in texture) or they also sell premade gyoza wrappers if you want something more like this consistency.

Christina Kim said...

Wow, homemade skins? Impressive. So, you said you used a pan... did you just pan fry these, or did you steam them?

lisaiscooking said...

Those look great! I'm hoping to work up the courage to try making potstickers one of these days.

Olga said...

Your sauce looks so pretty!

unconfidentialcook said...

Homemade potstickers--wow! I'm very impressed, and they look fantastic!

Juliana said...

Great looking dumplings...with shrimps yummie! Would love to have some right now...

nora@ffr said...

Oh wow, absolutely gorgeous!

test it comm said...

Those dumplings with dipping sauce look really good!