Making the Dumplings

I was commenting to Eric a few weeks ago that one of the foods I miss the most from the US would have to be Chinese dumplings (potstickers). Back in Ann Arbor, we joined a small group at our church that was about 50% Asian in the beginning, and once in awhile they would have dumpling cookoffs. Ah, heavenly. Then we found out that instead of making their own, many "authentic" Asians bought their dumplings in frozen packages. Wow! We would routinely keep 3-4 bags in our freezer for an awesome go-to meal. Here in Kenya, I must admit, I was missing the potstickers, and the sesame oil/soy sauce dipping sauce almost as much.

So, what to do? We toyed with the idea of making our own, but were always a little daunted by the wrappers. Several years ago we did make our own dumplings, which turned out great, but had purchased the wrappers at a Chinese grocery store. Well, last week, we did a little research and finally took the plunge into the world of Dumpling Making.

First step: dough. Just flour and water, surprisingly. Eric made all sorts of little marshmallow-looking blobs and rolled them into circles.
Step two: filling. I mixed ground pork with cabbage, green onions, corn starch, soy sauce, and sesame oil to get this (doesn't it look appetizing?!):
Step three: filling the wrappers. This was not terribly difficult, probably because I didn't do it the "fancy" way. But it was functional.

Step four: I pan-fried each dumpling (used a lot of oil to prevent sticking) then steamed them for another 4-5minutes. Meanwhile, Eric whipped up a batch of dipping sauce. Like riding a bike.
Step five: Ah. Eat the dumplings. With chopsticks, of course. Maggie had one or two, and Eric and I each polished off a good dozen or so.
Culinary success! We will try this again, hopefully soon. Apparently you can freeze them easily, prior to cooking, so we may try that as well.