Potstickers! October 17th

Please prepare your filling and bring it with you; I'll provide the wrappers. We will assemble and cook the dumplings together at my house.

Menu:

3 Types of Dumplings (potstickers)

• Crab Potstickers with Sesame-Ginger Dipping Sauce - T&J
• Shrimp and Chive Potstickers - J&K
• Japanese Style (pork or chicken - cook's choice) - C&C

Salad with spicy sesame dressing - Z&K

Rice Pudding - Z&K

Japanese style dumplings (Gyoza)

Inspired by a recipe from The Kitchn

Yields aprox 40 dumplings.

Ingredients:

4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps diced small
1 pound napa cabbage, quartered down the length and thinly sliced across (about 5 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces ground pork or chicken (80% lean preferred)
3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced across
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg, beaten

Method:

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced shiitake mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened and turning golden brown. Add the cabbage and the teaspoon of salt to the pan. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is completely wilted, 3-4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, combine ground meat with the scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and black pepper.

Squeeze handfuls of the cooled mushroom-cabbage mixture in your fist to squeeze out as much moisture as possible and transfer to the meat mixture. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Thoroughly mix egg into the filling mixture. (You should have about 3 cups of filling total.)

Rice Pudding

Source: Christian Delouvrier's Mastering Simplicity via The Wednesday Chef

Marie Louise's Rice Pudding
Serves 4 to 6 as written (Will double this for dinner and to share with the kids)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup long-grain rice
1 bay leaf
6 cups whole milk, approximately
1 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Large pinch of salt

Method:

1. Place rice in a small saucepan with bay leaf and 2 cups water, bring to a boil over high heat, then drain immediately. Transfer rice and bay leaf to a heavy 3-quart saucepan.

2. Add 4 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla bean and salt. Place over very low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until milk has been absorbed by rice, about 1 hour. Add 1 or 2 more cups milk, and continue cooking over low heat 15 to 20 minutes longer. Rice should be tender and mixture should be very creamy. Remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Shrimp and Chive Potstickers

Source: Peter Meehan's Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes via David Lebovitz

Yields aprox: 50 dumplings

Ingredients:

1 pound (450g) uncooked shelled shrimp, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thawed)

1 cup finely minced garlic chives or 2 bunches regular chives, minced
1 tablespoon peeled, minced ginger
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or sherry
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon white or black pepper
½ teaspoon salt

Method:

Peel and chop the shrimp, either with a chef’s knife or pulsing them in a food processor. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the chopped shrimp with the chives, ginger, egg, soy sauce, Shaoxing, sesame oil, pepper, and salt. Cover and chill the mixture for at least 30 minutes.

Crab Potstickers with Sesame-Ginger Dipping Sauce

Source:  Gourmet via Epicurious

Recipe should yield about 24 dumplings.(~1.5 cups filling)

For dipping sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh gingerroot
5 teaspoons water

Filling:

2 scallions
12 ounces jumbo lump crab meat
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh gingerroot

Make Dipping Sauce:

In a small bowl whisk together all dipping sauce ingredients.

Make Filling:

Chop scallion and pick over crab meat to remove any bits of shell and cartilage. Break up larger pieces of crab.

In a dry small heavy skillet toast sesame seeds with salt to taste over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer seeds to a medium bowl and cool slightly.

Add egg white and gingerroot to seeds and lightly beat.

Gently stir in crab and scallion and season with salt and pepper.