Chicken and Mushroom Potstickers

[zhemao]

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. I went over to a friend's house to celebrate by making (and eating) jiaozi, a kind of Chinese dumplings. Eating these dumplings on New Years is believed to bring good luck, since their crescent shape resembles the gold and silver ingots that were once used as currency.

Jiaozi can be either boiled or pan-fried. The pan-fried version is known as guotie or potstickers. Here's a recipe. This is quite labor intensive, so it's best to get some friends to help.

Ingredients:

• Ground chicken


• Shiitake Mushrooms


• Napa cabbage


• Jiaozi wrappers (sometimes labled gyoza wrappers)


• Soy sauce


• Salt


• Sugar


• Garlic powder


• Ground ginger


• Vegetable oil

Directions:

Making the filling

1. Pick apart the leaves of the napa cabbage. If you are using a single package of ground meat, about 10-12 leaves should be sufficient.


2. Wash the cabbage in cold water.


3. Bring a large pot of water to boil.


4. Blanch the cabbage in the water until the leaves wilt. This step is necessary to reduce the cabbage's volume and prevent water from getting into the dumpling.


5. Take the cabbage out of the boiling water and let it cool. You can put it in cold water to make it cool faster.


6. Cut each piece of cabbage in half lengthwise and then chop into small pieces.


7. Wash the mushrooms in cold water.


8. Bring the water back to boil and then put the mushrooms in.


9. Once the water starts boiling again and the mushrooms shrink, take them out of the water to cool.


10. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and set them aside.


11. Dice the mushroom caps. To do this, slice each cap into thin strips, then turn 90 degrees and chop into small cubes.


12. Add the chopped vegetables and ground chicken to a mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until evenly distributed.


13. Add a dash of soy sauce, a spoonful of salt, and half a spoonful of sugar.


14. Sprinkle on a generous amount of garlic powder and a smaller amount of ground ginger.


15. Stir until mixed

Folding the dumplings

There are many different ways of folding the dumpling. As shown in this video. The one most commonly used is the "fold over" in which the top half of the wrapper is pleated over itself. These methods really only differ in terms of appearance. Any one of them will do. I will describe the easiest method here.

1. Place the dumpling wrapper on a flat surface. (Or if you're particularly skillful, on the palm of your hand)


2. Place a small amount of filling in the center of the wrapper.


3. Wet your fingers and then moisten the edge of the wrapper.


4. Fold the wrapper in half over the filling.


5. Firmly pinch the edges of the wrapper together to form a tight seal all the way around.

Cooking the dumplings

1. Add some oil to a non-stick pan and put it on medium heat.


2. Once the oil gets hot, place the dumplings on the pan in a single layer, making sure there is enough space between dumplings to prevent them from sticking together. You will likely need to do multiple batches.


3. Once the dumplings have browned on one side, flip them over.


4. Let the second side brown a bit and then add a fourth to a half cup of water (don't need to be very precise).


5. Cover the pan and let it simmer until all the water evaporates.


6. Uncover, turn off the heat, and then shake the pan to unstick the dumplings.


7. Place the dumplings on the serving tray.

And there you have it. The dumplings should have a very juicy, savory flavor inside thanks to the mushrooms and garlic. You can also dip them in soy sauce, chili sauce, or vinegar (or a mixture of any of the those). Being Shanghainese, I prefer dipping in straight Zhenjiang black vinegar.

You can use pretty much any filling for this, so long as there is some sort of ground meat and some sort of vegetable. Ground pork and turkey are common meat fillings. Spinach, Chinese chives, or celery are common vegetables.

---

Grilled Mushroom Mini-Skewers

[zhemao]

If you made chicken and mushroom potstickers and are wondering what to do with the leftover mushroom stems, this is how I used them. In China, there's a dish called chuan er which is basically a shish-kebab. Meat is placed on a skewer and then grilled on an open flame. This is the indoors, bite-sized, vegetarian version.

Ingredients:

• Mushroom stems


• Flour


• Vegetable oil


• Toothpicks (not really an ingredient, but just so you know)

Directions:

1. Wash the stems thoroughly to remove any dirt or loose particles, then drain.


2. Sprinkle salt over the mushrooms and mix well.


3. Sprinkle some flour over the mushrooms and mix to coat.


4. Place the mushrooms on the toothpicks. Skewer them perpendicular to the stem so that you can fit more on a single toothpick. You should be able to fit three or four on one pick. Line them up parallel to each other so that the skewer can lie flat.


5. Add some oil to a pan and bring it up on medium high heat.


6. Add the skewers to the pan and let it cook on one side.


7. Flip the skewers over and cook on the other side.


8. Once both sides are nicely browned, they should be done. Turn off the heat and serve.

And there you have it. Perfect as a snack while you wait for dumplings to be made. Grilling the mushrooms like this makes it crispy on the surface, but gives it a chewy, meaty texture on the inside.