Recipe!! Vegan Pot Stickers

So, the Fall semester started on Wednesday. My son and I are back on the grind. Summer break is over. So sad!

But before we officially started, I wanted to make a special treat as one last hurrah. After I saw a package of wonton skins at the grocery store, a gyoza dinner had to happen! Pot stickers are such a comfort food for me, but it’s hard to justify buying them at the store or going to a restaurant (I have a relatively steadfast rule about only buying things with 2 or less ingredients in them—corn chips aside). This recipe is so easy and fun, it’s super kid-friendly. The boy and I whipped up two dozen of these bad billies in 45 minutes—the same amount of time it took to cook the rice. I halved the ginger sesame sauce from the stir fry recipe for dipping and it was aaaawwwweeeesssooommmeee. Feel free to deep fry these, or steam them, or pan fry—they’re great no matter how you heat them up.

 Enjoy,

Tara

Ingredients

    1 red onion

    1 tbsp. ginger, minced

    3 cloves garlic, minced

    1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

    1 cup cabbage, diced

    1 cup carrot, grated

    3 kale leaves, chopped

   

    1 tsp white pepper

    1 tsp sesame oil

    2 tsp liquid aminos (or tamari / soy sauce)

    (I also used a hand-me-down mix of “Asian” spices from Perfect Pinch, primarily because it has orange peels in it but its strangely specific, so I’m not going to explicitly recommend it.)

   

    ½ package of wonton skins

    Canola oil (or whatever you prefer for frying)

    A dish of water and a brush

Directions

1. Cut up the onion, ginger, and garlic. Heat a little oil and sauté until soft.
• Note: the ginger must be minced well or you run the risk of biting into a chunk. Although I love ginger, it can be an overpowering flavor…

2. Dice, grate, and chop the veggies. Throw them into the sauté until the cabbage is soft.  
• I used frozen mushrooms that caused the final mixture to be wet. The consequent, which isn’t unusual, is that I had to strain the mix.

3. While the mixture is cooling, set up your wonton station: wonton skins, a water dish, and brush.
• Make sure to have a dry, clean surface. The skins will stick to anything wet.

4. Once the mixture has cooled, it’s time to season! Add the aminos, sesame oil, and white pepper and stir until incorporated.

5. Spoon the filling into the center of the wonton skins, and wet the edges with water.

6. FOLD.
• Pinch the top corners together
• Pull the leftover corners toward the center
• Pinch the little horns together
• Repeat
• Note: This is in no way an authentic wonton fold!

7. Heat up your oil and stack your ‘tons. Make sure they don’t touch though.
• Heat until the bottoms are browned.

8. Once browned, put a quarter cup of water into the pan and cover.
• Wait until the water is completely evaporated, then uncover and continue browning until they can be removed without sticking (or whenever because they’re done, I just like them crispy).

9. Eat!

    (Also, look at these green onions from the sesame ginger recipe 2 weeks ago!)