Happy Chinese New Year

I worked with a wonderful lady in my church this last year and she was from China. She taught me how to make pot stickers last year and taught me about Chinese New Year and a little bit about her culture. I love most asian food. So my husband decided he wanted to start a fun family tradition and make some kind of asian dish on Chinese New Year each year. February 10th was the New Year this time and we missed it cause too much was going on. So we celebrated a couple days late. I wanted to share my friends recipe and how she taught me to make them. They are so delicious!!!

Pork Pot Stickers

1 pkg. ground pork (avoid lean, because the fat is what makes them bursting with juice)
Napa Cabbage (chopped, about 2 cups)
Fresh Ginger (grated, about 2 tablespoons)
2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 egg
Salt (about 1/2 tablespoon)
1 pkg of gyoza/potsticker wrappers

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together.

For the ginger I take about one chunk. Then I peel it and grate it over the bowl.

For the garlic, I take each clove and crush it with my knife. This causes the peeling to just fall off easily then I mince it up and add to the bowl.

 These are the type of wrappers I used. I got them at my local asian market. There are just over 50 in the package.

 Once the ingredients are all mixed well I start filling the wrappers. I use about a tablespoon of filling and plop it in the middle.

I have a bowl of water handy and dip my finger in the water and spread it around the edge. Just enough to dampen the dough. This makes it stick together easier when you fold it.

 Crease only one side of the dumpling and pinch it together. Having only one side creased creates the curve so they will stand up nicely in the pan.

 Continue to make more once you have enough to fill your pan add about a tablespoon of oil to the bottom and brown the bottoms of them slightly. Once the are nicely browned get your lid and about 1 cup of water ready. Pour the water into the pan and quickly cover with the lid. Be careful cause if there is some oil left in the pan, (there usually is) it will splatter.

 Once covered cook for about five minutes. The goal here is to steam all the water out and get the bottoms back to slightly crunchy. My potstickers needed a little bit more time to cook cause I could tell the tops weren't quite done. So I added 1/4 cup more water and that did the trick.

We don't eat all fifty in one meal so I finish the rest of them, place them on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Once frozen I put them in a ziplock bag and save them for another meal. They cook up the same way as if fresh. (Brown the bottoms, then toss in the water and steam)

Here are some other recipes we found and made this year to go with our potstickers.

Chow Mein
Fried Rice