Pork and Chive Potstickers

Ingredients

• 400 g pork mince, not too lean
• 200 g Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 tsp salt
• 30 g chives, finely sliced
• 15 g ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• about 40 round dumpling wrappers
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar, to serve

Method

1. Salt the cabbage

   Toss the shredded cabbage with the salt and leave 15 minutes, then squeeze it out hard over the sink. A wet filling steams the wrapper from inside and tears it.

   15 min

2. Beat the filling

   Mix the pork with the cabbage, chives, ginger, soy, wine and sesame oil, then stir it vigorously in one direction for a full minute until it turns tacky and holds together. That stirring is what stops the filling crumbling into loose mince when you bite it.

   2 min

3. Fill and pleat

   Put a heaped teaspoon on each wrapper, wet the rim with a fingertip, fold and pleat one side onto the flat other side. Keep the pile covered with a damp cloth — an exposed wrapper dries out and will not seal.

4. Fry the bases

   Set the dumplings flat-side down in a wide pan with the oil over a medium-high heat and fry, undisturbed, until the bottoms are properly golden.

   3 min

5. Steam in the same pan

   Pour in 120 ml water, stand back, and clamp the lid on. Let it steam until the water has gone and you hear frying again — that is the whole potsticker method, crisp base and steamed top from one pan.

   7 min

6. Serve

   Loosen with a thin spatula and turn them out crisp-side up. Serve with rice vinegar and a little soy for dipping.