I’ve been wrestling with the potsticker recipe from Use Real Butter for a while now. Jen, who runs the show at URB (which I could, and do, spend hours drooling over — so. many. delicious. things), has nailed the flavor of the filling and her mom’s method of making your own wrappers is easy and so much better than the paper-thin, easily-dried-out wrappers you can get at the store.
Here’s the thing, though: I have a tiny kitchen, no garbage disposal, and I’m really lazy. So I’ve honed the recipe for my (lazy) needs by eliminating the Napa cabbage (I know, purists, but this last batch had no cabbage and I liked the consistency more and didn’t have to fish cabbage shreds out of the sink, SO THERE) and adding a teeny dash of fish sauce. I also nixed the shrimp (which is an option, but the recipe allows for you to eliminate it). I also sliced the skin off a big hunk of ginger root and grated it into the filling, which was easier on my prepping space/time and also eliminated the giant ginger-chunk surprise sensation (you know what I mean — spicy times).
You’ll end up with way more filling than you need. Last time, I made a zillion dumplings and froze them, but this took what felt like five years; this time I froze the filling as tiny meatballs, and I figure the store-bought wonton skins will be great to wrap the thawed meatballs in and throw in some chicken stock with green onions, carrots, some cabbage (okay fine, cabbage, you win) and a couple of dashes of soy sauce.
As for dipping sauces, here’s my favorite:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
some grated ginger and/or sliced green onions
