October 2

As a vegetarian, I always feel like I get the short-end of the potsticker stick. One of the things I miss from my meat eating days (childhood, really, since I haven’t eaten meat since I am 12) is wonton soup. It isn’t so much the taste of the soup but the texture of the wontons that I miss. To me, wontons, dumplings, and potstickers are all in the same boat. I find it especially hard to find vegetarian versions and even when I do find some on a restaurant menu, my meat-eating company never really wants to get them. And so, I have resorted to making them at home.


The first time that I made anything dumpling-esque, it was a bit of a disaster. I used wonton wrapper (mistake #1) and it was simply the biggest pain in the world to make. The wrappers were so frustratingly finicky: they kept ripping, resulting in exploding dumplings and countless wrappers that had to be thrown out. However, after taking Smitten Kitchen’s advice and using dumpling wrappers, the game has changed. Since then, all of my attempts at dumpling/potsticker making has been successful thanks to these hard-learned leassons:
1- It’s worth repeating: DO NOT use wonton wrappers. They rip and are difficult to handle. Dumpling wrappers are the way to go!
2- Use a combination of water and cornstarch to help seal your potstickers. They will NOT explode in the pan that way.
3- Make sure to drain your mixture to ensure that your filling isn’t too wet. This helps it stay together and gives it a nice texture.
4- Don’t overstuff your dumplings. Use a tablespoon to measure out your filling and don’t bother putting any more than that! It will be difficult to fold and your filling will just squirt out everywhere.
5- Many recipes call for frying and steaming your potstickers in the same pan. While I’m sure this is the traditional way of doing it, it is done by pouring water into an oil filled pan, resulting in madly spattering oil, making potsticker-cooking a dangerous activity. I prefer to pan fry them in one pan and transfer them into another one to steam to avoid this problem.



If you follow all of these rules, I can guarantee that your dumpling making will be fairly enjoyable, if a long process. Even though it takes some time to put these together, your efforts are worth it. Personally, I find it pretty pointless to make dumplings in small batches. Even though it may take an couple of hours, you are left with FIFTY lovely dumplings that are just waiting in your freezer to be eaten as a wonderfully satisfying appetizer. As I suggested with the bagels, you can even put on a dumpling party (I know it seems like I just like to pawn off the work for intensive recipes on my friends… but I swear, it’s a lot of fun), many hands make light work.



These dumplings are perfectly satisfying and great to keep in the freezer. All you need is an extra couple of minutes in the pan and they taste like they are perfectly fresh. You can mix up the vegetables and use peas or asparagus (like Smitten Kitchen suggests) in the filling. If you swap spinach for the swiss chard, make sure to wring out the excess water that spinach has. The chewy dumpling wrapper, crunchy browned bottom, and delicate filling is everything that I want in a potsticker, I hope you get to enjoy them soon!