Takeout Takedown

As anyone with half a brain knows, potstickers are the greatest. They're individually wrapped pillows of garlic and happiness and I am never more selfish than when a serving of 6 crops up in a takeout order or at a restaurant. 5 for me, 1 for the rest of you to share. Actually, make that 6 for me and get your own damn potstickers.

The only thing is that pre-fab potstickers are typically full of stuff that isn't great for you, like MSG and other weird chemicals. And yet...and yet...they're just so goooooooood.

This past Saturday I had a serious come-to-Jesus moment when one of my best friends' mom (who also functions as my second mom) texted me and asked if I wanted to come over to make homemade potstickers. Naturally I threw my phone out the window screaming like a banshee with excitement and then collected myself and replied, YES PLEASE.

Miyun's recipe for potstickers is laughably simple and so good. The only thing she says you simply cannot skip is bean sprouts. Otherwise the fillings are up to you. We used ground chicken, broccoli, firm tofu, onion and garlic (obvi) besides the bean sprouts. They're not too salty because you're going to be dunking them in soy sauce anyway so you don't really need any extra sodium there.

Additionally, cook these in sesame oil. Not olive oil. Not canola oil. Get burnt sesame oil if you can; it's available at most grocery stores or Asian markets. That brings me to the potsticker wrappers. We used the brand Dynasty, available at all Asian markets. They're in the refrigerated section and they can be frozen if need be -- just fully defrost them before making the potstickers.

A word to the wise: because these are made with fresh dough, they will stick together. This recipe also makes a hell of a lot of potstickers. If you want to freeze them for later use, freeze them individually on a lightly oiled baking sheet first so that none of them are touching and then transfer to a Tupperware container. Otherwise they will all be stuck together and you'll be left with a giant ball of mush that will taste great but not cook especially well.

Now that you've got this recipe in your arsenal you can make tons of potstickers and keep them in the freezer so when the mood strikes (and it will -- I ate these for lunch and dinner two days in a row) they're there for the eating. Defrost them in the refrigerator over the course of the day. This recipe makes about 150 potstickers; so I recommend you grab a friend and a bottle of wine.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground chicken or pork

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 - 1 1/2 c. steamed broccoli, chopped small

1 large handful bean sprouts

1 package firm tofu, patted dry

Burnt sesame oil

2 packages wonton wrappers

1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat a drizzle of sesame oil. Add the garlic and ground meat and cook until the meat is almost cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. In a large bowl, combine the ground meat mixture, the broccoli, onion, bean sprouts and tofu. Mix very well to combine, using your hand or a wooden spoon.

3. Take your wonton wrappers and line them up on a dinner plate, as many as you can fit, slightly overlapping so that a half-moon edge is visible on each one. Brush the overlapping edges with the beaten egg. This will seal the potstickers closed. It should look like this: ( ( ( (

4. Place about a teaspoon of the filling into the center of the top wrapper. It shouldn't be too full because they won't seal right but you also don't want it too empty. Fold the wrapper in half and pinch the edges with your fingers to create the seal. Congrats! You made a potsticker. Repeat about 150 times or until you run out of filling.

#chicken #asian #maindishes #dinner #healthy