Pot stickers (fried siomai)
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Let me take a break from the series of dishes I cooked using pre-boiled pork belly. I still have two recipes to post in that series — a fast and easy pancit canton (chow mein) and repolyo guisado (sauteed cabbage) with a new twist. But I am excited about something I cooked a couple of nights ago and I decided to post this ahead of the other two. Pot stickers. At least that’s what they called in British cookbooks. But what it is actually is fried siomai (dumplings). Unlike the pinsec frito which is deep fried, pot stickers are boiled in a mixture of broth and cooking oil. When the broth evaporates, the dumplings are fried in oil. “Pot stickers” is really just another name for the Japanese gyoza which, according to this site, was originally a Chinese dish.
The name “pot stickers” conjures an image of dumplings sticking to the bottom of the pan. But that’s not really supposed to happen. If the dumplings stick, they’re ruined. Among all the recipes of pot stickers that I’ve come across, not one specifically mentions that using a non-stick pan is the best way to cook these tasty little beasts. I suppose that traditional Japanese and Chinese cooks would cringe at the idea but for a mother who never trained in the fine art of dimsum making but who wants to cook some great dumplings for her family nevertheless, well, a non-stick pan is the way to go.
There are no strict rules as to what should go into the filling. Ground pork is most convenient and, with the right vegetables, herbs and spices, it is delicious. For my pot stickers, I used minced chicken thigh fillets. I used less traditional herbs to go with the chicken too. Instead of the very oriental mixture of chopped onion leaves, garlic and ginger, I went for a combination of garlic, shallots, and fresh tarragon and cilantro. I did stay with the traditional seasoning of soy sauce, however.
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6 Responses to “Pot stickers (fried siomai)”
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Had to laugh at your comment regarding non stick pans because a lot of well trained cooks scoff at using non stick pans. I say if it helps us mothers avoid a lot of unecessary stress why not di ba? All that matters is that our family loves the end result.
my mom always makes siomai with ground pork, chopped shirmps, water chestnuts and onion leeks… they taste great in soup too.
That’s a very different method from what I learned (to be honest I haven’t seen pot stickers cooked this way, but I’ve only tried local pot sticker recipes) - how I did it was to fry the dumplings in a wok first, wait until it’s a little brown, dump a bowl of water in (the Chinese recipe I had says to put about a tablespoon of flour in), cover, boil until all the water evaporates and then continue frying until the bottom of the dumpling is nice and crispy. I never turn them, but I think that’s more attributed to laziness than anything else
Nadia, my philosophy, exactly. I have no patience with purists.
jamie, that is the traditional recipe. personally, i don’t like water chestnuts. and i’m allergic to shrimps.
Rose, that explains why they won’t stick to the bottom of an ordinary pan — they are fried first! I gotta try that technique. Thanks.
yup, that’s the way to go with gyoza. we fry them first in a medium heat then when they are turning a little brown, put a tablespoon or two of water, cover then turn the heat high.
Ra and light soy sauce for the dip.
Yummy!!!I’ll try this recipe of yours……..
hi connie! thanks for this recipe. i tried the link that u gave for the dumpling wrappers. it wasnt easy but it was fun. thanks again for sharing!
more power!