Pork And Ginger Pot Stickers In Hot Water Dough

Directions

1. Sprinkle cabbage with the 1/2 Tbsp. of salt and let stand for 30 min. Place the cabbage on a clean dishtowel or possibly cheesecloth and squeeze out any water. The dryer the cabbage the better. In a large bowl thoroughly mix the cabbage with all of the other ingredients, except the chicken stock. Cook a tester to check the seasoning.
2. For the Warm Water Dough: In a stainless steel bowl mix flour and salt. Slowly add in warm water to flour in 1/4-c. increments. Mix with chopsticks till a ball is formed and the dough is not too warm to handle.
3. On a floured surface, knead dough till it becomes a smooth, elastic ball. Place back in bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rest for at least 1 hour.
4. Working on a floured surface with floured hands, roll out dough to create a long 'noodle', 1-inch in diameter. Cut 1/2-inch pcs and turn them over so the cut sides are facing up. Flatten with your palm and roll out thin using a rolling pin. The dumpling wrapper should end up about 3 inches in diameter.
5. Making The Dumplings: Place a small mound of filling in the middle of the wrapper. (Be very careful not to touch the edges with the filling as this will impede proper sealing of the dumplings. Nothing is worse than dumplings breaking during cooking.) Fold the wrapper in half to create a half moon shape. Starting on one end fold/healthy pinch the wrapper tightly together. Proceed with this fold/healthy pinch method till the dumpling is completely sealed. There will be approximately 10 to 14 folds per dumpling. Rest the dumplings with the folded edges straight up.
6. Cooking The Dumplings: In a warm saute/fry pan coated well with oil, place pot stickers flat-side down and cook till the bottom is browned. Have pan cover ready and add in 1 c. of chicken stock, cover immediately. Be careful, the liquid will splatter! The stock will steam the pot stickers. Check them in 5 min as more stock may be needed. The trick here is which once the dumplings are hard and fully cooked the stock will evaporate and the bottoms will crisp-up again.
7. For the Spicy Soy Dipping Sauce: Combine all and serve in a small bowl.
8. For Plating: Serve pot stickers on a large platter lined with lettuce with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side.
9. NOTES : Iris Lee Tsai is the mother of Ming Tsai.