Wrapped in Flavor

I'm a huge Food Network fan. I Tivo Ace of Cakes and I'll watch Good Eats when ever it's on. The combination of cooking and food science is really interesting to me. So when Alton did a show on wontons I just had to try making my own Potstickers.


There's an Asian market in my home town (I know weird) that happened to have them in the frozen section. I grabbed up a couple packages and brought them back to Minnesota to try out.


They were so easy! I made a little assembly line and finished the packages off. I froze what I didn't use that night and seriously, 4 months later I defrosted them and they tasted just as good.


Potstickers can be served with Chinese, Thai, Japanese, really any Asian food or any appetizer occasion. And since they are so fast (even frozen) to make it's worth the prep time to put them together before hand.


Alton Brown's Perfect Potstickers

Ingredients

1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons ketchup
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
35 to 40 small wonton wrappers
Water, for sealing wontons
3 to 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 1/3 cups chicken or beef stock

Directions

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl (pork through cayenne). Set aside.


To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth keeping them damp. Brush the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape as desired - either crimp sides for press with a fork. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.


Heat a 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Coat bottom with olive oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without moving letting the bottoms brown. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook tightly for another 2 minutes, letting steam. Quickly remove the top causing the wontons to crinkle. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately.