T's pan-fried potstickers

The potstickers at T’s show off their free-range Berkshire pork and are served with a crispy golden lattice that’s almost too beautiful to break into with your chopsticks. These Northern Chinese-style dumplings can easily be frozen and be cooked from frozen – add six minutes to the cooking time. To save time, you can use store-bought dumpling wrappers, but these do not have the pleasing chewiness of homemade wrappers.

Credit: This image is from Chopsticks or Fork? by Jennifer Wong and Lin Jie Kong (Hardie Grant).

• makes

  36

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• ½ cup water
• Hot chilli oil, to serve

Dough

• 250 g plain flour
• 150 ml water
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• plain flour, extra, for dusting and rolling

Filling

• 250 g pork mince
• 125 g Chinese cabbage (wombok), finely chopped
• 125 g garlic chives, finely chopped
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• ½ tsp five spice powder
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 ml water
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Lattice (for every 12 potstickers)

• 1½ tsp self-raising flour
• 50 ml water

Resting time: 1 hour

For this recipe, cook batches of 12.

Instructions

1. To make the dough, place the plain flour in a large bowl and pour in the water gradually while shaping a loose dough with your hands. Depending on the temperature and humidity of the room, you may need more or less water.
   
2. Transfer to a floured bench top and knead the dough until smooth. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover and rest for 1 hour.
   
3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix well in a circular motion in only one direction to bind the protein and keep in the moisture.
   
4. Once the dough has rested, divide the dough into 3 sections. Roll each section into a rope around 2 cm in diameter, then cut each section into 12 equal pieces. Dust the pieces with extra flour to prevent them from sticking. Press each piece with the palm into a small disc.
   
5. Using a rolling pin, roll the discs out into thin circular wrappers. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each wrapper, fold over one side of the wrapper to cover the filling, and either pleat or pinch the edges together. You can moisten the edges of the wrapper with a wet fingertip before folding to help seal the wrapper.
   
6. Place the wrapped dumplings on a tray lined with baking paper or plastic wrap to prevent them from sticking. You can either cook these dumplings straight away or freeze them.
   
7. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a medium non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Arrange 12 dumplings in the pan, with space around them. Pour in ½ cup of water and immediately cover the pan with a lid. Turn down the heat to low–medium.
   
8. To make the lattice, mix the self-raising flour with the water until there are no lumps.
   
9. When the water has evaporated from the pan, around 8–10 minutes, lift the lid and pour in the lattice mixture. Cook, uncovered, for a further 2–3 minutes, or until the lattice is golden and crispy.
   
10. Serve the dumplings on a plate, lattice side up, with hot chilli oil.

This recipe is from Chopsticks or Fork? by Jennifer Wong and Lin Jie Kong (Hardie Grant, RRP $42.99).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.