Making homemade peking ravioli – or potstickers – or dumplings – they go by many names – has been on my list of things to do for a long time. I’ve been reading about them on food blogs for quite a while and I was intrigued. I was also pretty certain that anything I could make would be better than the frozen ones from the grocery store or even the ones I was getting from my local Chinese take out place. I was a little intimidated by the process – there seemed to be a lot of steps – but I figured I could handle it. I also figured it would be a lot more fun with a friend so I asked Jo-Ann to make them with me. She’s always up for a challenge and we’re both always up for something delicious to eat and it was the perfect thing to do on a cold Friday night.
We made the dough from scratch. Truthfully, we tried to find potsticker wrappers so that we could skip this step but the Asian market I used to go to is closed now and none of our local grocery stores – even Whole Foods – had them. It really wasn’t that difficult. As Jo-Ann said, it’s flour and hot water, how hard could it be?
While the dough rested we mixed up the filling. We cobbled together a few recipes and created a mixture of ground pork, chopped up shrimp, fresh ginger, scallions, sricacha sauce and seasonings.
It was fast to assemble and then we set it aside so that we could roll out the dough. That was sticky business and required a fair amount of flour but we soon had lots of little nuggets of dough, flattened and ready to be filled.
I won’t brag about our pleating and folding abilities as I think you can see they were pretty haphazard. Jo-Ann is convinced we could get jobs at a Chinese restaurant making these things but I think the quality control people might have something to say about our technique.
You know what, though? Neither one of us gave a lick what they looked like once we had panfried/steamed them and tasted them. Oh my goodness. The pork and shrimp with the ginger was fantastic. They were juicy and the dumpling dough was tender and, while we did share that plate with Dale, Hannah and her friend Joe, we did so grudgingly.
We will definitely be making these babies again!
Jo-Ann Said,
Any restaurant would be lucky to have us! They were bomb!!
Brenda Said,
Recipe? Or at least links?
I’ve been wanting to try these and now I have to. Thanks!
Kym Said,
Thanks for sharing your Adventures With Food! Again, you have inspired! What fun. And what a delicious payoff!
Donna Said,
Those look delicious. That is one of my favorites at the Chinese restaurant my daughter works at. And now I think I will have Chinese food for lunch.
margene Said,
Oh yum! Carole’s home cooked would be better than any other place on the planet!
Robby Said,
Would it be enabling to mention that there is such a thing as a potsticker press? Not that those babies don’t look deliciously edible.
Sue Said,
Sounds yummy! DD comes home for spring break in a week- making potstickers sounds like something we could do together.
Cathy R Said,
Wow, those look fantastic!
I have to admit that I use the frozen ones all the time. Instead of panfrying/steaming them, I drop them into chicken broth to make soup. YUMMY!
Maggie Said,
We made a s***load of these babies and froze them before cooking. They have been great to have on hand for busy nights… I just boil them in some broth and walla! wonton soup. We’re getting to the end of my stash though… might be time to make some more.
jill Said,
Looks like you two had a lot of fun! My youngest has been clamoring for them for while. I’m sharing your post with her and pointing to the kitchen! I wonder how the GF flours would work. I’ll let you know if she does it or not.
Loved the photo-journal of the process as well.
Mary K. in Rockport Said,
Oh damn, now my stomach is growling! You should have a warning at the beginning of any post that features photos and descriptions of food!
Jo Said,
You’re definitely onto something. Whenever you want to try something that sounds a bit daunting——find a partner in crime! You made me remember the evening my friend Joy and I made homemade bread and butter pickles, dill spears and chowchow. There was a largish bottle of wine involved and we were as pickled as the cucumbers by the end of the evening!
Marcy Said,
Those look so delicious! I think I’ll tell my husband to bring home takeout Chinese tonight!
Kristyn Said,
Yummy! I may need to give it a try myself.
mary Said,
simply. impressed.
Joy Said,
They look wonderful – one of our favorites
Patty Said,
They look absolutely delicious!
Seanna Lea Said,
I’ve made vegetarian gyoza, but I didn’t make my own wrappers for that. What recipe did you use for the potsticker wrappers? They might be too heavy for gyoza, but it would be worth trying.
I’ve been a vegetarian so long that I’ve never had a potsticker. Never seen one that is vegetarian.
kmkat Said,
Those look delicious in that last photo! Potstickers are one of my favorite things at a Chinese restaurant. Too bad they have gluten…
kmkat Said,
Forgot to say that the pre-frying photo made me laugh — it looks like naked newborn animals — puppies or pigs or maybe even jellyfish.
Rebecca Said,
I second the request for the recipe link, please!!
Those look fantastic. Mmmmmm.