The more foods become globalized, the more they seem to take on similarities across cultures. Take, for instance, the concept of filling inside dough. You have the American apple dumpling, the Italian ravioli, the Polish pierogi and on and on. Now, in my inexpert opinion, the genus of Chinese dumplings has the most diverse evolutionary branches of the dumpling family. You have the wonton, the pork shumai, the xiao long bao soup dumpling, the shrimp har gao, the related ha cherng shrimp roll, and of course, the jiaozi potsticker.
Ah, potstickers. Whether steamed, boiled or fried, meat-filled or vegetarian, served from a cocktail tray or out of street vendor cart, the potsticker is always a crowd-pleaser. These days, you can pick up packages of frozen potstickers in almost any grocery store, boil some water and voila, dinner is ready. However, for an even more rewarding experience, it is actually quite easy to make dumplings yourself. You can make dough from scratch and roll it out, but I recommend picking up a package of dumpling wrappers as a shortcut. After all, even with pre-made dumpling skins, it does take a significant block of time to make, fold and cook the potstickers. Therefore, I recommend roping in additional hands to speed up this labor-intensive process, particularly if you aren't picky about how the neatly the potstickers are pleated. (Hint: host a potsticker making party.)




Recent Comments