Pork and Chive Potstickers with Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Steps

1. Step 1

   Toss the chopped napa cabbage with the salt in a bowl and let it sit 15 minutes. Then gather it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze hard over the sink to wring out as much water as you can. This keeps the filling from going soggy.

   15 min, hands-off

   • 1/2 head napa cabbage
   • 1 tsp salt
2. Step 2

   In a large bowl, combine the squeezed cabbage, ground pork, chives, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine and pepper. Stir vigorously with a sturdy spoon or your hand in one direction for about a minute, until the mixture looks sticky and paste-like.

   5 min

   • 1 lb ground pork
   • 1 bunch garlic chives or regular chives
   • 1 tbsp fresh ginger
   • 2 cloves garlic
   • 2 tbsp soy sauce
   • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
   • 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
   • 1/2 tsp ground white or black pepper
3. Step 3

   Set up a small bowl of water and line two baking sheets with parchment. Lay a wrapper on your palm and put a rounded teaspoon of filling in the center. Dip a finger in water and run it around the edge, then fold the wrapper over the filling and press the edges together firmly, pleating one side three or four times if you like. Set each dumpling on the baking sheet, not touching its neighbors, and keep the unused wrappers under a damp towel so they don't dry out. Repeat until the filling is gone.

   30 min

   • 1 package round or square wonton wrappers (about 50 wrappers)
4. Step 4

   To freeze: put the trays in the freezer uncovered until the dumplings are hard, about 1 hour, then transfer them to zip-top bags. They keep 3 months and cook straight from frozen, no thawing.

   1 hr, hands-off

5. Step 5

   Make the dipping sauce: stir together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, chili oil and sliced scallion in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.

   5 min

   • 1/4 cup soy sauce
   • 3 tbsp rice vinegar
   • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
   • 1 tsp sugar
   • 1 tsp chili oil or chili crisp
   • 1 scallion
6. Step 6

   To cook a batch: heat the oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Arrange about 12 dumplings flat-side down in a single layer and fry undisturbed until the bottoms are deep golden, 2 to 3 minutes.

   3 min

   • 1 tbsp neutral oil, such as vegetable or canola
7. Step 7

   Pour in the water and immediately cover the pan — it will steam and spatter. Cook covered until the water is gone and the wrappers look translucent, 6 to 8 minutes for frozen dumplings (4 to 5 if fresh).

   8 min, hands-off

   • 1/3 cup water
8. Step 8

   Uncover and let the dumplings fry another 1 to 2 minutes to re-crisp the bottoms. Slide them out onto a plate crisp side up and serve hot with the dipping sauce. Repeat with more oil and water for each additional batch.

   2 min

Where it’s from

Written by AI from an idea

Version 1, saved Oct 4, 2026