Homemade vegan potstickers

My little dumpling loves dumplings, so we made them. Actually, that’s not exactly true—I have no little dumpling. Chef F is a sweet and skinny weed, but he does love dumplings, and the curve of his flushed, rosy cheeks, playing outdoors or falling asleep, does remind me of his dumpling days. Also, we did make some, and they were delicious.

As soon as our toothsome homemade potstickers were devoured (which was pretty quickly), I thought, better hurry up and log/share this, because I don’t want to forget how good these are! At the same time, a part of me is a little reluctant to share this, because of the lurking inner awareness that I likely won’t make them again for some time. The reasons for that make me wonder, can it be fair to press them on you? But they are SO good. They’re also fiddly. Not hard—in fact, they’re REALLY easy to make. But they are just a teensy-weensy bit time-consuming. Not terribly. They just require a little bit more watchful time than busy adults typically have for a weeknight supper. They’re not special occasion fancy either… but actually while not fancy per se they are both special occasion and everyday satisfying, so maybe those couple of watchful minutes won’t matter.

You know how the idea of canning tends to be daunting? Yet every summer or fall, once you’ve taken your first leap, you find yourself again setting up what has become annual canning plans. Canning day itself surprises you year after year for being really quite smooth and simple. Plus, at the end of the day you have a boatload of pickles, peaches, and jam to show for your time. Well. these lip-smacking, fabulous little potstickers are not anything like canning. They don’t take anything close to that kind of time and prep. But I’m drawing comparisons here in hopes that if you have hours of canning in your head, the extra minutes it takes pressing wonton wrappers to lightly pan-fry and then steam while uncertain as to the probability of getting everything to the table just right will feel like nothing. Piece of cake. A breeze.

You will most likely not find these so fiddly, with your expert sealing fingers. But if you do, they are probably worth it regardless. They have earned a Chef F review that consists of a gleeful, “Oooh, goody! We get to eat the DUMPLINGS!” That is all we need over here. Maybe I will be making these again very soon, after all.

Vegan potstickers

• 25 vegan wonton wrappers

• cooking spray

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoons minced ginger

• 1 cup chopped mushrooms (Asian mix , shitake, or baby bella)

• 2 1/2 cups shredded coleslaw mix (carrots and cabbage)

• 1/3 cup chopped green onions, whites and light green parts

• 7.5 ounce (approximately) firm tofu, cut into small cubes (1/2 a standard block)

• Water for steaming

• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce, divided

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

lime wedges, for serving

Heat a large pan or skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add the the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant – about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry for a further 5 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown. Add the slaw mix, green onion, tofu, and 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce. Cook, stirring, until the cabbage is softening, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assemble potstickers: spoon filling in the center of a wonton wrapper (about 1-2 teaspoons). Wet the edges of the wrapper with water. Fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch the edges together to seal. Place them upright on a plate, being careful not to let them touch or else they will stick together.

Coat your pan or skillet liberally with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add the potstickers and fry until browned on the bottom – 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to work in two batches if not all your potstickers fit in the pan. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover the pan and reduce heat to medium. Allow to steam until the tops are tender and the water has evaporated – about 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and flip the potstickers onto their sides to brown on each side if desired. Serve immediately with remaining dipping sauce made from remaining soy sauce whisked with vinegar and chili garlic sauce.

https://www.cilantroandcitronella.com/vegan-potstickers/