Homemade Chicken "Potsticker" Dumplings

Fresh dumplings lined up and ready to cook!

There is nothing quite like the taste of homemade potstickers. Don't let these little guys intimidate you. They're fun to prepare and with just a bit of practice, you will be cranking out these savory dumplings in no time at all! Click "Read More" for the details...

Preparing the filling...

Rolling the dough...Keeping it thin.

Fry em' up, add the broth or seasoned water, then cover and steam them in the pan 'til they stick!

Steam them if you prefer. They are great either way!

I prefer the "fry and stick" method. All you need is some good soy sauce and hot mustard to go along!

Homemade Chicken and Mushroom "Potsticker" Dumplings

Filling Ingredients:
3 - 4                         fresh chicken thighs  (skinned and de-boned)
1                               small  onion (diced)*
3                              cloves of freshly minced garlic
1  tsp                      freshly minced ginger
1  Tbsp                 soy sauce
2   tsp                    fresh-cracked black pepper
1/2   cup              chopped celery
1/2   cup              chopped mushrooms*
1-2  Tbsp             diced jalapeno or dried red chili (optional)
1  Tbsp                 peanut oil or other neutral-tasting oil

Filling Directions:
Place all of the filling ingredients in your food processor fitted with the blade and pulse everything until it is mostly smooth with a few small chunks strewn here and there (see the photo above). Place the filling in the refrigerator until you're ready for it.  Begin preparing the dough.

Dough Ingredients:
2 1/2  cups             all-purpose flour
1 tsp                        salt
1/2  cup                boiling water
1/2 cup                cold water

Dough Directions:
Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the 1/2 cup of boiling water to the flour mixture and stir well until crumbly.
Add the 1/2 cup of cold water and stir well with a large spoon until everything comes together into a rough ball.
Continue kneading the ball of dough until it is smooth. This takes about 5 minutes or so.
Rest the kneaded ball of dough in a covered bowl for about 20 minutes.
Roll the dough out into a long rope about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Cut up the rope of dough into roughly 2 inch pieces.
Flatten out each piece of dough, and roll into a rough 3 inch round.

Dumpling Assembly:
Take each individual 3 inch round of dough and rest it in the palm of your hand. 
Add 1 heaping tablespoon of filling in the center and fold the dough over in half. Flute the edges to seal everything up. Place the assembled dumplings on a large plate, and cover them with a damp cloth until you're ready to cook them up. 

Cooking Options:
The simplest way to cook these dumplings is to steam them in a bamboo steamer.

However, in order to make "POT STICKERS" there is a simple little trick:
Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a small frying pan. When hot, place the dumplings into the pan. It's okay to crowd them in a bit.
Cook them in the oil until they begin to stick to the pan and brown on the bottom.
Immediately pour about 1/2 cup of broth* over the dumplings and cover them with a lid. Steam them for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated in the pan and the dumplings just begin to stick. Be careful not to over do it!

Serve with a good soy sauce, hot mustard, or whatever you prefer! Enjoy! :)

Notes:
*White, yellow, green, or purple it does not really matter. Whichever you prefer. :)
*I like to use reconstituted dried mushrooms for their concentrated flavor,  but any type of fresh mushroom will  work just fine.
*If you don't have any broth handy, water seasoned with a bit of soy sauce works just fine.
*These things freeze great! Simply place the uncooked dumplings  in a freezer bag in a flat even layer. You don't even need to thaw them out to cook them!