How to Fry Potstickers

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Potstickers are one of those things for which the store-bought version is as good as homemade. Here's how to prepare them.

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Ingredients

  • soy sauce
  • Chinese rice vinegar
  • fresh or jarred ginger
  • sesame oil
  • chopped chives
  • potstickers

Preparation

Step 1


Make the dipping sauce. Traditionally, pot stickers are served with a delicious dipping sauce. The sauce is usually made up of a mixture of 2/3 soy sauce, 1/3 Chinese rice vinegar, fresh grated or chopped bottled or pickled ginger, and sesame oil, often with a garnish of chopped chives. If you like it spicy, add Chinese chili paste to taste.


Heat a wok or non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Make sure that the pan is very hot. To do this, flick a small amount of water onto the pan. If it evaporates immediately with a loud hiss, your pan is ready to go.

Pour two tablespoons of oil into the pan or wok. The type of oil you use is up to you. For a more authentic Chinese recipe, use sesame or peanut oil. You can also use vegetable or olive oil if you prefer. For the healthiest option, use olive oil (it has the highest amount of heart-healthy fat--monounsaturated fat--of any oil.) Heat the oil for about a minute (bubbles might begin to form.)

Place the pot stickers in the pan. You must make sure that there is enough space between each pot sticker and that they are not overlapping at all. If they overlap while cooking, it will be nearly impossible to separate them without ripping them (and having all the delicious filling fall out.)


Fry the pot stickers in the oil. You should fry the dumplings for roughly two to five minutes, or until the bottoms of the pot stickers begin to turn a golden-brown color.

Add roughly three tablespoons of water to the pan or wok. Immediately after pouring the water in, cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. The steam created by the water will cook the dumplings all the way through. Using a lid that doesn’t let any air out is important--if steam escapes, the pot stickers will take longer to cook or may overcook and become gooey.


Steam the dumplings until all of the water is gone. You'll start to hear crackling sounds, and the pot stickers will again begin to turn a golden-brown color. Traditionally it is advised not to rotate the dumplings, instead only allowing the bottom to brown.[4]
If you like them well browned, gently lift and turn them with a spatula to brown the sides.
If you want them to be even crunchier, take the lid off and cook the dumplings on medium-high.

Remove the dumplings from the heat. Transfer them to a serving platter and serve immediately (they are best served piping hot.)

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