New Year's Good Luck Potstickers (GF)

To bring prosperity, dumplings resembling gold ingots of the Ming Dynasty were traditionally served at midnight throughout China on New Year's Eve. Today, they are popular year round at breakfast, lunch or dinner all around the world (called gyoza in Japan).

Hats off to Nom Nom Paleo for this delicious and easy-to-follow recipe. While a bit labor intensive, the result is mouthwatering potstickers, hot and fresh, of restaurant quality. You can make the filling one day and the wrappers within two days. Or recruit a few helpers. They are totally worth the effort and will freeze well (the recipe makes 48).

My Paleo Marin: 5 Persimmons

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 pound Napa cabbage, about 1 small head
1 Tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (use half the amount if using any other salt)

1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup chicken broth
3 large shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps finely chopped
1/2 cup minced scallions
1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 Teaspoon ground white pepper
1 Tablespoon coconut aminos
1 Teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Wrappers:

3 cups (384 g) cassava flour
3/4 cup (96g) arrowroot powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
2 1/4 cups boiling water

For Cooking the Potstickers:

Image from Instacart

1/4 cup avocado oil, divided (or grapeseed oil)
1/2 cup boiling water per panful of dumplings

Dipping Sauce:

Option 1: Dynasty Potsticker Gyoza Dipping Sauce (not paleo)
Option 2: See glutenfree dipping sauce recipe here

Instructions:

For the filling:

1. Finely chop the Napa cabbage leaves, place in a medium bowl and toss with the salt. Place the mixture in a fine mesh colander over a bowl and let sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Press the cabbage to release the liquid, then put cabbage in a cloth towel and squeeze out the rest of the liquid. There should be about 1 cup of cabbage remaining. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the pork and the chicken broth. Mix with a fork or your hands to incorporate the broth into the meat. Add the cabbage, mushrooms, scallions, garlic, ginger, white pepper, coconut aminos, and sesame oil. Mix well with hands until everything is combined into a slightly sticky ball. 

3. Cover and refrigerate the filling mixture until ready to use, or for up to two days.

For the Wrappers:

1. Place the cassava flour, arrowroot powder and Diamond Crystal kosher salt in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir it in. When the mixture is just cool enough for you to handle, knead the dough with your hands until it has formed a springy, not sticky, dough. Add additional tablespoons of water as necessary. If it’s too dry, add more water a tablespoon at a time. If it’s too wet, add a bit more flour.

2. Divide the dough in thirds and place on a baking sheet. Then divide the each ball in half to get six dough balls. Divide these in half two more times to get 48 balls (Note: I used a food scale to do this part). Cover the dough balls with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out while making the dumplings.

To Assemble the Potstickers:

1. On a large baking sheet, divide the pork filling into 48 equal parts (about a scant tablespoon).

2. Roll out each potsticker ball in between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin until about 1/8” thick (or use a tortilla press if you have one). Add the filling, slightly spreading it out lengthwise, and fold up the sides. Press the tops together, and then crimp them along the top to form the traditional dumpling shape. The finished potsticker should have a flat bottom with a pleated top that is then shaped into a crescent form. Repeat for all 48 potstickers. 

3. Heat up a 10” heavy bottomed frying pan on medium heat; add the oil. When it is hot, place the potstickers around the pan so they do not touch each other. Fry the bottoms until they are brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. 

4. While the potstickers are browning, heat 1/2 cup of water to a boil. When the potstickers are browned on the bottom, CAREFULLY add the boiling water to the frying pan, turn down the heat, and cover with a lid. Steam for about 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, continue cooking for a minute or two until the liquid has burned off.  Serve immediately with your choice of dipping sauce. 

5. Repeat Steps 2, 3 and 4 for as many potstickers as you want to cook. Store the extras in the freezer in a single layer in zip lock freezer bags for up to two months. Steam frozen dumplings for 7 minutes.

#paleo #potstickers #glutenfree #Chinese #ChineseNewYear #jiaoza #gyoza #dumplings #asian #cassava #shitake #nomnompaleo 

Recipe from Nom Nom Paleo website here.