Jamies PotStickers!

Jamie David has always loved Potstickers, and searching around for vegetarian options, I found many recipes. This is a combination of many, and it turned out really well. Make enough, and this can be a main course, but it is usually served as an appetizer.

This is a super easy recipe, with a few pre-sliced ingredients, pre-made wonton wrappers, and a tasty sauce that just mixes up a few flavors.

First begin by dicing 1 cup onion

and

1~2Tbsp Ginger, depending on your taste.

Then sautee them together for 2 minutes in a tbsp of Sesame Oil before the onion softens a tad and the ginger starts releasing an aroma

Get ready 2 cups each of sliced cabbage, carrots and mushrooms.




Add these veggies to the pan, along with 2 Tbsp of Shoyu and 2 Tbsp of Mirin

Sautee for 4 or 5 minutes until everything gets nice and soft.

Some recipes added the cabbage later so there was more of a bite in the dumpling, but I like everything soft.

Now using water to wet the edges of Wonton wrappers, place a tbsp of the finished filling inside the wrapper, and fold the edges together.

Pictured are a few ways to do it, round, pleated circular edge, boats, and triangles.

Get a grouping ready and fry them in a tsp or more of oil, but not too much! This is not the main cooking process! Fry them for 2~3 minutes depending on how hot the oil, the bottom should be golden brown.

Add 1/4 cup~1/3 cup water depending on the size of the pan. Turn up heat if it isnt already on medium high, and cover.

Steam dumplings for 3~4 minutes until the water has fully evaporated.

Serve immediately with a prepared sauce of 2 parts Soy Sauce and Mirin, 1 part Sesame Oil, Sriracha to taste.

You know you have cooked them correctly and tightly enough if the wrapper has shriveled on top and the bottoms are golden brown and not burnt.

Vegetarian Cha-Siu Bao

Baozi, the delectible buns of Dim Sum fame, were for a long time my favorite Asian cuisine. When picking out shrimp of the hum bao was too much for me, I just gave up on eating them all together. What a shame. White fluffy dough, wonderful innards, just an amazing thing to put in ones mouth.

In fact, I started this blog with the intention of learning how to create Cha-Siu Bao, and because we still have not toiveled (kashered) any meat pans, I have decided to make a vegetarian version. Cha-Siu bao could best be translated as BBQ Pork Bun, and are a favorite of many Chinese dim sum enthusiasts. Bao as a food is said to have first been made nearly two thousand years ago, with various forms cropping up in the Northern and Southern regions. This particular bao, which means wrapping or bun, that we are making today hails from Southern China, as it has a sweet flavor and is filled with Cha-Siu, which is Cantonese Cuisine. It gets its fluffiness from the two stages of rising, utilizing both baking powder as well as yeast. Watch the video for instructions- its the first flip usage! Enjoy!



Dough
1 3/4 Cups Hot Water
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Yeast
2 Tbsp Shortening
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
6 Cups Flower


Filling
1 Small Onion Chopped
1 Bag Morning Star Strips


(Double from this point on because you are doing this sauce twice)
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Rice Wine
1/4 Cup Hoison Sauce
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Red Food Dye (optional)


(The second time we need that sauce thicker and different)
1 tbsp Minced Ginger
1 tbsp Flour