potstickers for two

Have I mentioned yet how any food that requires a lot of fingerwork is pretty much destined to get made in my kitchen at some point? Also, I'm trying not to do groceries for a bit, and I had seitan in the freezer, so..... yeah, I made (sort of) chinese dumplings! Extremely yummy, and since I faked out a recipe I'll send it back out to you guys. One thing though - the filling could do with maybe 3/4 cup of vegetables (like celery or steamed cabbage), and the wrappers ended up being very thick - you could probably make 18 dumplings out of this and that would take care of the extra filling. I just vowed not to do groceries. Anyway, enjoy! This was a killer lunch!

~ Potstickers For Two ~

Won Ton Wrapper Dough:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp warm water

- mix together the flours in a medium sized bowl, then add the water and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, or until it's soft and pliable.
- cover tightly with plastic and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Seitan Filling:

1 cup seitan, crumbled (I used Vcon simple seitan)
2-3 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and minced
2 scallions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, grated
2 tsp tamari
2 tsp cooking sherry
1 tsp cornstarch

- mix together in a bowl and let it sit for about 20 minutes to let the flavour develop.

Hot Chile Dipping Sauce:

3 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp hot chile oil or sesame oil
1/4 tsp brown sugar

- combine and (yep, you guessed it) let it sit for a few minutes... oh, about 20.


Putting It All Together:

1. Divide the wonton dough into 12 equal pieces. Cover unused dough in plastic wrap, then take a piece and roll it out on a floured surface until it's a circle about 4 inches across.

2. Hold the wrapper in your non-dominant hand, then put one tablespoon of the seitan filling in the center and wet the outside of the circle with water. Crimp the top together like a purse, then fold the top side of the wrapper in on itself as you seal it to the edges, squeezing excess air out as you go (there's no way I can describe this well enough, so here's a video.)

3. Put a kettle on to boil.

4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, lightly oil it, then place the potstickers flat-side down in the pan and heat until golden and crispy on the bottom. Pour 1/2 cup of the boiling water into the pan, cover, and let them steam for about 7 minutes, or until all the water is gone.

5. When the pan is dry and the bottoms are crispy again, plate them up with a little bowl of dipping sauce, break out your chopsticks and eat!

(damn, these were savoury delicious. And sooooo cute!)