Pork and Shiitake Pot Stickers

By GadgetGirl

It's never a bad idea to have a good supply of dumplings on hand. Ours taste way better and are much lower in sodium than what you'll find at the store. Plus, they go from freezer to plate in only 10 minutes--what could be easier? Just cook what you need tonight, and stash the rest in the freezer for a busy night later.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided $
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 4 ounces thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce, divided
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 14 ounces lean ground pork
• 40 gyoza skins or round wonton wrappers
• Cornstarch
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from cooking light.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 1/2 cup onions, garlic, ginger, and mushrooms; stir-fry 3 minutes. Remove from pan; cool slightly. Combine mushroom mixture, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, hoisin sauce, pepper, and pork in a medium bowl.
2. Arrange 8 gyoza skins on a clean work surface; cover remaining skins with a damp towel to keep them from drying. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons pork mixture in the center of each skin. Moisten edges of skin with water. Fold in half; press edges together with fingertips to seal. Place on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch; cover to prevent drying. Repeat procedure with remaining gyoza skins and pork mixture.
3. Combine 1/4 cup hot water and brown sugar in a small bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add remaining 1/4 cup green onions, remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce, vinegar, and sambal, stirring with a whisk until well combined.
4. Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat. Generously coat pan with cooking spray. Add 10 pot stickers to pan; cook 30 seconds or until browned on one side. Turn pot stickers over; carefully add 1/3 cup water to pan. Cover tightly; steam 4 minutes. Repeat procedure in batches with remaining pot stickers and more water, or follow freezing instructions. After cooking, serve pot stickers immediately with dipping sauce.

TO FREEZE: Freeze dumplings flat on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn­starch 10 minutes or until firm. Place in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag with 1 teaspoon cornstarch; toss. Freeze sauce in a small zip-top plastic freezer bag. Freeze up to 2 months.

TO THAW: Thaw sauce in the microwave at HIGH in 30-second increments. No need to thaw pot stickers.

TO REHEAT: Follow recipe instructions for cooking, placing frozen dumplings in pan and increasing steaming time by 2 minutes.