Potstickers are delicious crunchy, steamed filled dough. My mom used to make these for me growing up, so when I ventured out on my own, I had to find a way to fill the crave. So I resorted to ordering them from Schwan’s. Remember Schwan’s? However, now that I’m older, I want to instill in my son the joy and importance of cooking.
A little history of potstickers
It’s difficult to pinpoint how potstickers came to be, other than they originated in China. Legends say that they were created by accident when a Chinese chef left the dumplings on the stove for too long, thus burning them on the bottom but not on top.
Traditionally potstickers are filled with ground pork, cabbage and spices like garlic and onions. With that being said, you can fill it with anything. Today I’m going to make the filling using ground chicken, shredded carrots, chopped garlic, chopped shallots and buffalo chicken sauce. My husband’s second favorite sauce, next to siracha of course.
Making potstickers
Making the filling for these potstickers were simple. I took ground chicken, added carrots, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper and buffalo chicken sauce. I used the sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings. You can use any wing sauce. I just prefer the taste of this particular sauce, but feel free to use any seasoning you want these are your potstickers. After the ingredients were thoroughly mixed, I pan fried a small patti to taste test it. It’s always good to do this for when you’re making food that requires stuffing of raw meat. This way, the whole batch doesn’t come out too salty or too bland.
Working with the dough
I used the round store bought wonton wrappers. They are found in the Asian grocery store in the frozen section. If you are ambitious, you can make them from scratch. Prior to using the dough, I move them from the freezer to the refrigerator to slowly thaw. This generally takes a day.
Whenever I work with store bought dough to make either egg rolls, pate so, or potstickers, I always have a towel covering the unused dough. This way the dough doesn’t dry out, making it difficult to work with.
I used a small ice cream scoop to make sure the amount of filling was uniform throughout. To seal the dough, I spread a thin layer of egg wash on the outer edge of the circle before folding the circle in half and pressing together the edges.
You can leave the potstickers as is. Or if you want to be fancy you can fold the edges together to make little ripples.
The alternative is to use a fork to seal the edges. To do this, take a fork and press it firmly into the edges of the dough. Release the fork by lifting straight up. After sealing the edges, placed the potstickers on a tray and cover them with a towel, if they’re not going to be cooked right away.
Cooking the potstickers
I’ve been on a cast iron kick lately so I dusted off our cast iron skillet and put it to use. I love working with cast iron because it’s great at retaining heat and the clean up is so easy. The trick to giving these a nice crispy bottom and a perfectly steamed top is to have the heat on medium low.
Spray some oil onto the skillet and let it heat up before placing the potstickers in. I know it’s tempting to move it around, but resist the urge. This will help the bottom crisp up nicely. It will take 3-4 minutes.
After the bottom browns, pour enough water into the skillet to have a thin water layer covering the bottom. Immediately cover the skillet with a lid. It will sizzle and that is okay. As the water turns into steam, it will cook the potstickers. The top of the potstickers will puff up, and that is my signal to uncover the skillet and let the rest of the water evaporate, before removing the potstickers from the skillet.
Serving the potstickers
Potstickers are a great appetizer for any occasion. I like to garnish them with sauteed green onions and a dash of red pepper flakes. If you’re looking for a sauce to dip them in, pour some of the buffalo sauce you used for the marinade into a bowl, garnish with fresh chopped green onions and there you have it. Simple and easy sauce.
How to store potstickers
This recipe makes approximately 61 potstickers, depending on how much filling you use per wrapper. I used a smaller amount so it made more. Don’t feel like you have to cook and eat all of them at once. You can freeze the uncooked potstickers in a freezer bag. Take them out and cook them as needed.
For the cooked potstickers, I placed them in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator.
Buffalo Chicken Potstickers
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Ingredients for the filling:
- 6 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 shredded carrot
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 chopped shallot
- ¼ cup buffalo sauce I used the Buffalo Wild Wings spicy garlic sauce.
Ingredients to assemble the potstickers:
- 1 package of wonton wrappers
- 1 egg beaten
- water
- canola or vegetable oil for pan frying the potstickers
Ingredients for garnish:
- 1 bunch chopped green onion
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
Instructions
Instructions to marinade the filling:
- Add ground chicken, shredded carrots, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, chopped shallot and buffalo sauce in a bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Pan fry a small patti and adjust the seasonings if needed.
Instructions to assemble the potstickers:
- Place a wonton wrapper on a flat surface.
- Scoop a desired amount of filling into the middle of the round wonton wrapper. I used a small ice cream scoop to measure the filling.
- Spread the egg wash around the edges of the wonton wrapper, then fold the wrapper in half pressing the dough firmly together.
- You can leave the potstickers as is or you can fold the edges in to create little ripples for a fancier look.
- Place the sealed potstickers on a pan and cover them with a towel so they don't dry out. Continue assembling until all the meat is used up.
Instructions for sautéing chopped green onions for garnish:
- Add vegetable oil into a pan and let the oil heat up.
- Meanwhile, wash and chop the green onions.
- When the oil is hot, slowly add in the chopped green onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Set it aside to cool.
Instructions to cooking the potstickers:
- Spray the cast iron skillet with oil and let the skillet heat up on medium low heat.
- Place the potstickers into the skillet and let them cook until the bottom is brown and crispy. About 3-4 minutes. I fill my skillet up with 4-5 potstickers at a time. There's no need to make sure they are spread out. They can touch each other.
- After the bottom is crispy, pour enough water into the skillet to cover the bottom of the skillet and immediately put the lid on. This allows the top of the potstickers to steam. Be careful when pouring the water into the skillet because it will sizzle.
- As the potstickers steam, the top will puff up. When you see this, uncover the skillet and let it cook until the rest of the water evaporates.
- Remove the cooked potstickers from the skillet and repeat until all or the desired amount has been cooked.
- Serve with a side of buffalo sauce or garnish with sauteed green onions.
The next time you’re craving potstickers or want to make an appetizer for a get together, give this recipe a try. For more appetizer recipes, click here.
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