White Lady Fried Dumplings

These potstickers that I have self deprecatingly named ‘White Lady’s Fried Dumplings’, are in no way meant to be authentic. These dumplings are a great way of using up produce in your fridge that is on their way out, as long as you can maintain a meat mixture with some stickage. Normally, corn flour is used as a binder. I had potato starch. A single package of gyoza wraps can make you close to fifty if you are careful while filing them.

There are certainly more authentic recipes out there, but if you want to play around with your own mixture fillings, this is a good base to work from. They are best served with a shoyu tare dipping sauce, but my husband and I also enjoyed them on top of a noodle soup the next day. Enjoy!

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Ingredients

• Half red pepper, diced
• 3 garlic scapes, thinly sliced
  • Substitute 1 clove garlic
•  1 package Gyoza wraps
• 1 lbs ground pork
• 1 tbs soy
• 1 tbs mirin
• 2 tbs potato starch
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbs red pepper paste
• 1 large carrot, finely grated​

1. Prepare your vedge. Thinly slice garlic scapes. If using traditional garlic, dice finely and turn into a paste with salt by crushing it under the flat side of your blade. Grate your carrot and dice the half bell pepper.
   
2. Mix the filling ingredients together until sticky in your hands. There is no particular order. Just make sure you get some kind of starch in there to help bind the meat.
   
3. Working one or two gyoza at a time, place a teaspoon of filling in the center. Wet the edges of the wrapper and then fold together over the filling. Seal by pinching the edges between your thumb and forefinger. This is when you can make them flat bottom or stick with a half moon shape. Your choice.
   
4. When the gyoza are completed, heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with two tbs of neutral oil in the pan. When the oil has heated, add your potstickers one at a time to the heat. Allow the bottom to cook and brown. Depending on the heat of your pan, up to five minutes. Check frequently.
   
5. Carefully add 1/3rd cup of water to your pan and cover to allow the potstickers to steam. When the water has evaporated, evacuate your dumplings to a plate and repeat this cooking process.
   

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