Directions

HOW TO MAKE THE SKIN:

1. In a stand mixer, add 10 ounces of bread flour and 1/2 tsp of salt. Turn it on for 20 seconds.

2. Then slowly add 4.5 ounces of water from the side of the bowl. Keep mixing it for 3-5 minutes.
3. Turn off the machine and switch paddle with the hook attachment. Start it with low speed. Let it run for 2 minutes then increase the speed to medium and keep it on for 5 minutes.
4. 5 minutes later, the dough should be pretty smooth.Put this in a bowl. Cover it. Let it sit at room temp for 40 minutes.
5. 40 minutes later. Knead the dough into a round shape. Use your forefinger to poke a hole in the middle. Stretch it to make a big ring. Cut the ring off then you have a long even piece of dough.
6. Roll this to make it thinner. Cut it into small even pieces. Each one should be 0.4 ounces. You can use a scale if needed.
7. Sprinkle some flour so they don’t stick to each other. Flaten them one by one.
8. Roll it into thin sheets. Use your thumb to hold the middle. Right-hand rolls it. Left-hand holds and turns it.
9. When you get it into a small round wrapper. Then roll it few more times in one direction so you have an oval shape pot sticker skin.

HOW TO MAKE THE FILLING:

1. In a mixing bowl, add in 0.5 pounds of ground pork (I will recommend 15% fat), 1.5 ounces of ginger and garlic water which I just simply blend the ginger and garlic with water. 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1.5 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of white pepper.

2. My first secret technique is adding 4 ounces of unsalted chicken stock in batches. You just let it run for 1 or 2 minutes until the meat absorbs the liquid. Add another batch of stock and keep doing this until the liquid is gone. You can also do this by hand you just need to put a little more effort in. By doing this, your filling will turn out incredibly juicy.
3. Once the liquid is all gone. Increase the speed to high and let it run for 5 minutes. This is my second secret. As the machine spins, you should be able to see that the meat starts pulling away from the side of the bowl. That means the protein in the meat are being developed which will make your filling turn out with a better texture. If you don’t have a stander mixer, you can also do this by your hand. You just mix your meat within 1 direction for 8-10 minutes until you get the right consistency. It is soft and gooey. Almost like a meat paste.
4. Add 5 ounces of leek, finely diced and 3 ounces of minced carrot. Mix them until well combined. You can cook a small amount in a microwave to see if you want to adjust the flavor.

CLOSING / STORING / FRYING THE POTSTICKERS:

1. Take some filling. I use about 1 tbsp. Put it on the wrapper. Fold it across. Pinch the middle to make sure it is tightly packed. Then sew 2 sides.

2. The amount I gave is enough to make 30-40 pot stickers. If you can’t finish them all. Leave some space between them and put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, put them in a bag. It will last 2 months. Whenever you want to eat them again, don’t need to defrost, just directly fry them. Which is what we are going to do next.
3. Add a little bit oil in a cast iron pan just to cover the bottom. Add your pot stickers. Normally, a non-stick pan will be great for pot stickers but the pan I have, the non-stick layer is ruined. I didn’t want to use that so I am using a cast iron pan to do this and it works just as well.
4. When you see the edge starts sizzling. Add some water in. There should be a lot of steam coming out as you add the water. The amount of water should reach 1/2 way up the dumplings. Then cover it. Cook this on medium heat until the water is all gone. It will take about 3-5 minutes.