Out there is the vastness that is the blogosphere there are many many many many many many many food bloggers. Some specialize in this or that and others are just like me. People who like to cook and thought it would be fun to share recipes and cooking tips. One of these bloggers is the Cookin’ Canuck (Canuck is another way of saying Canadian. It’s not always nice. My sister-in-law will slug you if you call her a Canuck.) I love going to this food blog and just looking at the food she makes. Honestly, it’s a lot like what I would cook.
A couple of weeks ago I happened to see a recipe for pot stickers and as I read through the recipe, I knew that I had to sample it and share it here. Please visit the site and see the original post here because this definitely ain’t my recipe but I’m so glad that I tried it because it ROCKED.
Shrimp Scallion Dumplings
Cookin’ Canuck
3/4 lb peeled & deveined shrimp, finely chopped
6 tbsp canola oil, divided
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced or grated fresh peeled ginger
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
3 scallion, finely chopped (green parts only)
30-35 dumpling or wonton wrappers
Soy sauce or gyoza sauce for dipping
Place the shrimp, 2 tbsp canola oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and scallions in a medium bowl. Stir well to combine.
Scoop a rounded tsp of the shrimp filling onto one half of the wrapper. Using your finger, moisten the border of the wrapper with a little water. Fold over the wrapper and seal the edges with your finger. Flatten the bottoms slightly and stand on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure the skillet is piping hot. Add 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil. Place the dumplings in the pan. You will probably have to do this in two batches. Cook the dumplings for 2-3 minutes, until they are golden brown on the bottom.
Add 1/3 cup of warm water, place the lid on the skillet, and let the dumplings steam for 3 minutes.
Remove from the pan and serve with soy sauce or gyoza sauce for dipping.
Makes 30-35 dumplings.
Ok. Now I’m going to teach you how to fold pot stickers (or dumplings, whatever you want to call them. Technically, the way that they are cooked designates them as pot stickers) in an overly complicated way. If you value your time, do it the way Cookin’ Canuck instructs; but for some reason I couldn’t seem to make them work that way so I folded them more like wontons and it was complicated and it probably took twice as long. Too bad! You’re going to learn and like it!
A quick note on the shrimp: the recipe calls for shrimp that is finely cut up. At my grocery store, the cheapest “normal” shrimp went for about $9 a pound. These teeny tiny shrimp? $4 a pound. And I didn’t have to do any chopping, I just dumped them in the bowl. DOUBLE SCORE!
And now to irritate you with overly complicated folding. Take your little wonton wrapper and place it on a clean, dry surface.
It’s best to use an actual measuring spoon (teaspoon) to ration out the filling into your wrapper to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Have a small bowl of water close by so that you can wet your fingertips.
Use that wet finger to moisten all four edges of the wrapper.
Bring the opposing corners together like so. Repeat with the other side and make sure you pinch those seams to get an airtight seal.
Now you get a precious little pouch of salty, shrimpy goodness. Use the recipe and cook accordingly. The lady knows her stuff.
I used the full pound of shrimp (and added two more chopped scallions to the mix) and ended up with 45-50 pot stickers. My husband and I both had two servings and he reheated what was left the next day and had them for lunch. This is an excellent recipe and it was easy in it’s execution (aside from my fumbling pastry folding). These are tastier and more cost-friendly that your Chinese takeout pot stickers. You’re a fool if you don’t try them.
Isn’t that just a pretty dish? It’s always nice to be served something pretty because you’re already expecting it to taste good. Thanks to Cookin’ Canuck for posting this recipe. It was wonderful.
