Reducipe – Pork Potstickers With Tangy Ginger Lime Sauce

Posted on February 22, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Food, Reducipes | 5 Comments

Now THAT’S a potsticker! I decided to post this particular recipe this week because it is one of the ones featured in my upcoming catering gig (I modified it for vegetarians). I’ve been working on this recipe for years and it’s so good that we think it will be the crowd favorite at the event.

Potstickers are an inexpensive way to “wow” a crowd. They take a little effort to construct but it is well worth it.

They make lovely appetizers (and hors d’Oeuvres when cut in half and served on a chinese soup spoon with the sauce) but Eric and I usually make a meal out them. We just can’t stop at 2 or 3! He even likes to pour the remaining sauce over the leftover cabbage and potstickers to make a “potsticker salad” the next day.

This recipe produces a flavorful and juicy potsticker thanks to the pork and seasonings. I tend to generously season the filling because the dipping sauce paired with it isn’t the usual soy-based style. That means that the potsticker is seasoned well enough to stand on it’s own.

The dipping sauce combines sweet, sour, and fresh flavors. It’s tangy, bright, and intense. It’s one of those sauces that is so flavorful that you can’t get enough of it but if you had it everyday you would burn out fast. It pairs beautifully with the pork and is guaranteed to surprise and please.

Melissa’s Pork Potstickers

1 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 lb ground pork (avoid lean)
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and finely grated (minced ok)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 splash rice vinegar
1 squirt sriracha (or hot chili sauce)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 egg
Gyoza wrappers
1 cup chicken broth
Canola oil

Sprinkle cabbage with salt and let stand for about 30 minutes. Place cabbage in a dishtowel or cheesecloth and squeeze out any water. In large bowl mix the cabbage with the other ingredients except for the gyoza wrappers, canola oil, and chicken broth. Set up your work station with a small bowl of water, gyoza wrappers, filling, and a large cookie sheet.

Using a teaspoon, place a small mound of filling in the center of a gyoza wrapper (figure 1). Do not overfill. Using your finger, wet one edge of the wrapper with a little water. Fold over wrapper, press out any air, and seal the edge to make a half moon shape (figure 2). Crimp the edge of the potsticker into pleats to help seal it (figure 3). Set aside on cookie sheet and cover with a damp towel to keep the potstickers from drying out while you make the rest.

Coat a hot sauté pan with some canola oil and place potstickers down flat in the pan. Brown one side over medium heat. When they appear golden add about 1/8 cup chicken broth to the pan and quickly cover to steam. It will splatter! Allow to steam for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and let the potstickers fry until the underside is crisp again. Serve immediately with the Tangy Ginger Lime Sauce.

Makes roughly 30 potstickers (more if you go lighter on the filling). Serves 10 as an appetizer (or 2-3 for dinner).

If this is your first time making potstickers, don’t get frustrated if you have trouble with filling and crimping. Your first attempts may not work out. Practice really does help. Just remember not to overfill. If any filling squirts out when you fold or crimp the potsticker, just start over with a new wrapper and less filling. The wrapper won’t seal very well if filling touches the edges and may open when cooked.

My potstickers are best when pan fried on one flat side while the other side gets the steam treatment. It makes for a wonderful texture contrast of chewy and crispy. I much prefer this method over plain steaming or deep frying.

I prefer using gyoza wrappers (round Japanese dumpling wrappers) because they are very thin and delicate. I can find the gyoza wrappers in my fresh produce section with the Asian foods. They may be found frozen, too. You may have to check your local Asian market if your regular grocery doesn’t carry it. If you simply can not find gyoza you can substitute wonton or potsticker wrappers. Avoid thicker wrappers (like egg roll) because it will make the finished product taste doughy.

The potstickers are also fabulous with a little shrimp added in place of some of the pork. The original versions of this recipe included shrimp but over time I thought straight pork was easier (and tastier) because I rarely had leftover shrimp. Adding shrimp cuts some of the richness and results in a lighter potsticker.

Tangy Ginger Lime Sauce

1 cup tomatoes, peeled and petite diced (canned ok)
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 tablespoons cilantro
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3-4 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely grated
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 splash soy sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small non-reactive bowl. Stir well then whisk until sugar dissolves. Let the sauce sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to let the flavors marry before serving.

Definitely let the sauce set before serving because the flavors seem to get better over time. Leave at room temp for serving but refrigerate any leftovers.

The best way to get finely grated ginger is with a Microplane Grater/Zester. It transforms the fresh ginger into a pulp. If you don’t have a microplane you can finely mince the ginger and it will be fine.

I like to bite off one end of the potsticker, and using a spoon, I fill up the inside of the potsticker with the chunky sauce. Sure, it drips down my hand and makes a mess but I don’t care. It’s a great way to get more of the sauce in each bite.

Ingredient	Cost	Ingredient	Cost
Cabbage	$0.99	Gyoza Wrappers	$1.99
Pork	$0.89	Chicken Broth	$0.49
Ginger	$0.30	Eggs	$0.11
Garlic	$0.25	Tomato	$0.59
Green Onions	$0.69	Limes	$1.00
Cilantro	$0.45	Rice Vinegar	$0.25
Soy Sauce	$0.10	Jalapenos	$0.06
Sesame Oil	$0.15	Spices/Sugar	N/A
		Total	$8.31 or ~$0.83 a serving

If you really want to stretch this recipe, increase the amount of cabbage and you could get even more servings out of it. It’s amazing that you can make such a great tasting and well received appetizer for so cheap. It isn’t as inexpensive as peanut butter on celery but this is so much more impressive to serve. Enjoy!

Creating Something Useful From The Sentimental

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Household | 7 Comments

Apparently quilts can have mental issues Sorting through all these old clothes, especially the high school stuff, has put me in a strange position.

Although I’m donating the majority of the items, there are still those pieces that I feel I can’t part with.

I know it’s a little irrational; after all, I haven’t even seen these clothes in years. If they were so special why did I leave them in boxes in my garage all this time? I know, I know. It doesn’t make sense but emotional reactions often don’t, right?

I immediately felt a rush of nostalgia when I spotted the little black dress I loved so much among the other clothing in the box. During a time when I sometimes struggled with the way I looked, I always felt so pretty in that dress. It reminded me of all those fun high school times and brought a smile to my face. After reminiscing for a bit I wondered how I ever fit into it. It looks so small now. There is no way I’ll ever fit back into it. Such is life.

Turns out, I found a bunch of clothing in that box that I couldn’t bear to give away; that cute pleated skirt that I wore until it fell apart, that funky pair of jeans that made me feel rebellious, that stained chef’s coat that I wore to work. I want to keep them, but what do I do with them if I can’t wear them anymore?

My friend suggested I make a “crazy quilt” from the clothing. It could be my high school memories keepsake quilt. A lot of the fabrics are varied in texture and pattern so it could make an interesting piece. Turning that clothing into a quilt saves space and allows me to keep those sentimental items in a more useful form.

I have always wanted to learn how to quilt and a crazy quilt is a good place to start. A “crazy quilt” is a fabric panel made from irregular scraps randomly arranged together. That would be a fantastic way for me to incorporate all the different fabrics into one mismatched but meaningful piece. I bet it would be a great use for old baby clothes, too!

Because of my lack of sewing skill, I believe any quilt I attempt will end up being “crazy”, even if it wasn’t supposed to be. Might as well go with it and this style sounds very creative and fun.

I also like the idea of combining all my memorable old clothes in one (more compact) form. When it comes down to it, I think it is the fabric itself that’s evoking the emotional response. I don’t think the memories will disappear if the clothing isn’t in its original form anymore and if I keep the clothes intact they just end up hidden in a box again. I think I’d rather be able to enjoy those memories more than once a decade.

Do you have clothing from a special time in your life that you have trouble giving away? What did you do with it?

Image Source: onebyjude

$728 Worth Of Stuff Out The Door

Posted on February 19, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Charity, Household, Taxes | 9 Comments

Easy-Peasy! This weekend we gave our first big clothes donation to Goodwill. We sorted through all the clothes in our closet and pulled out anything we didn’t intend to wear again.

A frilly tie-dyed blouse (with sequins, no less) and a bright Mai-Tai patterned Hawaiian shirt found buried in the back of the closet come to mind.

The majority of the clothes weren’t nearly as horrifying, thank goodness. It’s mainly t-shirts and polos that just never got worn anymore.

We also got rid of most of the clothes that were too small, with only a few exceptions for clothes we really liked and hoped to fit into again someday. We are realists, though, so only a few too-small items got to stay.

We don’t go through our closet very often, and as a result there were clothes that should have been given away a long time ago. There was enough to fill 3 large boxes!

After entering all the items into ItsDeductible, we discovered our donation was worth $728. That’s awesome! Not only will someone else get the benefit of having these clothes but we get a tax deduction. It’s a win-win situation.

Using ItsDeductible is super simple and it works with TurboTax. You simply search for an item and it will give you the value based on condition. Old clothes are sometimes worth more than you would think! We tend to be conservative and value everything as medium quality, even if it has never been worn.

To make the process easier we looked at the categories in the program before we got started and tallied our donations according to those. I highly recommend sorting that way.

For instance, instead of writing “men’s shirt” we broke it down into t-shirt, polo shirt, dress shirt – just like ItsDeductible does. It made inputting the information a breeze. The more specific you are in what the clothing is the better. Best of all, you can transfer the information to TurboTax when you are done.

Even though we reduced the clothing in our closet by about half, we are just at the tip of the iceberg. There are boxes and boxes of old clothing in the garage that we have been carrying with us through the years for some reason.

Maybe it’s laziness. It’s easier to just leave it in the garage than to go through it, I suppose. No more! Every box will be opened and dealt with. I’m on a donation rampage!

Sunday we started going through those long-neglected boxes. Most of the clothes are from “way back when” so almost all of it will be donated. I am in the process of laundering those clothes for the next round of donations. Even though they are clean, they have been sitting in boxes for years and could use a freshening up. I figured that it’s a nice thing to do and helps get them on the racks for sale as quickly as possible.

Donating all this clothing is almost addictive. I can’t wait to see how much our next load adds up to!

It’s My Turn For The Book Meme!

Posted on February 15, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Food, Miscellaneous | 6 Comments

I’ve been tagged with a few interesting memes lately and I’ve been meaning to find the time to respond to them. My plan is to fit in one a week so we don’t get meme’d out.

I love that I’ve Paid Twice For This Already tagged me for a cool book meme going around. I had seen it on a few other blogs and was hoping I’d get to play along.

According to PaidTwice’s post the meme is super easy:

Grab the nearest book that has at least 123 pages, open it to page 123, and count down 5 sentences. Then, type the next three sentences here.

The two books closest to me on my desk happen to both be cooking related:

Hors d’Oeuvres by Eric Treuille
Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

Flipping to page 123 on the Hors d’Oeuvres book (incredible book, by the way) I discovered that it’s full page picture with no text. So I guess that one is out. I next turned to the ever fabulous Joy of Cooking and found this useful advice:

As for stocks, see 116, there are three simple methods for removing fat from soup. Chill the soup, the fat will solidify and then it is easy to spoon it off. Or float a paper towel on the surface of warm soup, and when it has absorbed as much fat as it will hold, discard.

Joy is such a monstrous book of cooking know-how that page 123 hasn’t even hit the salad section yet. We are still in soups!

I think every home cook should have a copy of Joy of Cooking. It is a wealth of information and really comes in handy when you are stuck trying to figure out a new skill like cutting a mango or making a roux.

Why the cook books nearby? I’m preparing to do my first official (in other words, paid) catering job at the end of the month! I’ve been scouring my favorite books for interesting recipes to test in addition to my tried-and-true classics. I cooked all day and into the night on Monday to test 18 potential recipes for this “classy but not too fancy” baby shower. The host has decided she wants an abundance of vegetarian heavy hors d’oeuvres for the party and at this point, she is expecting about 30 guests. That’s a lot of cooking!

We have chosen a tentative menu and are still deep in the planning stages. We need to map out the table presentation, create the cooking schedule, and compile the shopping list next week. It’s a big ordeal but I’m loving every minute of it. It’s a great way for me to use my passion for cooking to bring in a few extra dollars.

Oh, and in case you actually wanted to know the third method for removing fat from soup, here it is:

Or roll up a paper towel and use one end to skim over the soup surface to remove the fat as shown. When the end becomes drenched with fat, cut off the used part with scissors and repeat the process, as shown.

I’ve seen this meme floating around a lot so I hope I’m not double tagging anyone:

Image Source: Hors d’Oeuvres p.123

Make Valentine’s Day Special Without It Being Special

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Reflection, Relationships | 7 Comments

there’s no forgetting the HOFF When Eric and I first started dating he definitely worked to impress me, especially on Valentine’s Day. He would buy me flowers, take me to a nice restaurant, and get me gifts. That kind of Valentine’s date is practically a requirement for new relationships. I loved it back then and thought he might be the kindest, sweetest man I’d ever met.

Now that our relationship has matured beyond the dating stage (and I know that he is the kindest, sweetest man I’ve ever met) we have settled into a different routine when it comes to Valentine’s Day.

This Valentine’s Day, like the past few, we are going to enjoy a dinner in. Eric gets to decide the entrée and it can be anything (within reason – no caviar, etc). Not surprisingly, he tends to choose one of his favorite recipes from my weeknight staples. This works out beautifully for the budget because most of my recipes can be made inexpensively without sacrificing anything.

This year he chose my Orange Rosemary Porkchops. I’ll pair them with creamy mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables with herbed butter. Add a little cheese course, a little wine, and a little dessert and we will have a fantastic (and cheap) meal for the two of us.

Eating a budget-friendly home cooked meal for Valentine’s Day may be thought of as routine or incredibly un-romantic to some but to us it is romantic. What’s more romantic than putting time and effort into creating something from scratch for someone you love? So what that cooking frugal dinners are an everyday occurrence and not something “special” or unique. Valentine’s Day just places emphasis on showing someone you love them, which is something we do everyday in the little things.

Love is found in those little things – he takes the trash out without me asking, she makes sure the kids get to school on time, he makes sure the car has plenty of gas, she cooks us dinner after her long day…

I’ve found that I feel the most loved from those little “ordinary” things rather than the grand gestures we have come to associate with romantic love. Why not celebrate the “every day” dinner as a valid expression of love on Valentine’s Day?

Cooking at home is a wonderful couples activity. It’s not just me in the kitchen slaving away while Eric sits on the couch drinking a beer. We cook together. We share a glass of wine, talk, and prepare the meal as a couple. The chronically common becomes something special. It reminds us that the mundane things we do for each other are so meaningful.

Try it some time, maybe even tonight. Let your someone special choose a meal and cook it together over a glass of wine. Or if cooking dinner has no significance to you choose an activity that does. Emphasize that love is something that happens every day.

In my opinion, Valentine’s Day isn’t just an excuse to blow some cash on expensive gifts and fancy dinners; it’s a reminder to give and to recognize love in its most common yet most significant form. Celebrate the little things that make you feel loved.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Image Source: pink hats, red shoes

← Newer Posts — Older Posts →