Mushroom, Quinoa and Bok Choy Potstickers

Potstickers are a fun way to put stuff you have to use up in your fridge into a dumpling. In this case, it was mushrooms, bok choy and leftover quinoa that needed to be used. Feel free to improvise with whatever veggies and leftovers you have on hand. Just make sure your mixture doesn’t have any large chunks of anything in particular; it will make it harder to fold the dumplings and may cause breakage / spillage.

Although tedious, there is a purpose for pleating the potstickers instead of just folding them in half and calling it a day. The pleats create a dumpling with a flat surface on the bottom that also sits up real pretty. You have a good amount of surface area to brown the bottom with pleating vs. just folding in half and pinching the seam closed. I actually find it peaceful and relaxing and even meditative to fold potstickers… but then again I’m a bit cray and the kitchen is my happy place so, maybe not so much for you.

mushroom quinoa and bok choy potstickers on fmitk.com

You’ll need mushrooms, quinoa, cornstarch, sesame oil, gyoza/potsticker wrappers, ginger, green onion, bok choy and soy sauce. Not pictured: sugar, salt and pepper.

Cut the baby bok choy roughly into 1″ slices. It’s going to be minced up later so you don’t have to be exact.

Tip for not having soggybottom mushrooms: get your pan SCREAMING hot, add oil, then add the mushrooms. The high heat simultaneously helps brown the mushrooms and evaporate the liquid that they produce.

Turn off the heat and add in the bok choy. Let the residual heat from the pan wilt the greens. Tangent: If someone could make this photo an all-over printed tee, I’d rock it real hard.

In a food processor, pulse the bok choy and mushroom mixture until finely minced.

My mandolin has a built in grater. Grating ginger is so much easier than mincing it, y’all.

In a medium bowl, mix the mushroom and bok choy with the quinoa, green onions and grated ginger.

Add in the sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You’ll use 1 heaping / rounded / big boned teaspoon to fill each potsticker. Try not to get over-zealous with the filling – it’ll end up spilling out when you start the pleating.

Dip your finger in some water and wet the entire perimeter of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half like a taco, but don’t seal the edges together.

Starting on one end, pinch a bit of the seam together, followed by a pleat on ONE side of the wrapper. Pinch the pleat down, pinch a bit more of the seam, then make another pleat…

Continue to pinch and pleat until you reach the end. You’ll make about 4-6 pleats per potsticker, depending on your pleat size. I keep typing “pleat” and now it looks spelled wrong. I hate when that happens.
Also, this is a much easier task with two hands – since once of my hands was occupied by a camera, I did this on a cutting board, but you won’t need to do that.

That’s it! Repeat x 50. -_____-
It took about 6 tries for me to get a decent looking dumpling, and about 18 before I got into a rhythm and was folding them quickly. Be patient. The first few will suck if you’ve never done this before. They should sit up by themselves and sort of spoon each other when placed side by side.

*wipes sweat from brow*

To cook the potstickers, you’ll need some chicken broth and vegetable oil.

In a skillet with a lid, heat about 1 tbsp of oil. Place potstickers in, seam side up. Take care not to overcrowd the pan and make sure the potstickers aren’t touching each other… or they will STAY STUCK together. forever.

Cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned on bottom, about 4-5 minutes.

Add in 1/4 cup of broth and quickly cover with the pan with a lid. Let the potstickers steam and absorb the broth. Once the broth is absorbed, they bottoms will crisp right back up again with the oil still left in the pan. It takes about 6-8 minutes. Check to make sure the broth hasn’t completely evaporated after 5 minutes.

ta-da! Homemade extraly crispy potstickers!

We need something to dip them in. This is my favorite sauce for dumplings of any kind: black vinegar, soy sauce and ginger.

Cut the ginger into thin matchsticks. Combine with the soy and black vinegar.

I like to dip them in a combo of the black vinegar soy sauce and spicy hot mustard.

#nom.

makes ~50 potstickers in about 65 minutes

for the potstickers

1 lb mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini)
2 cups baby bok choy, sliced into 1″ strips
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
1 cup green onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated or minced fine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
50-60 gyoza / potsticker wrappers
vegetable oil

for the dipping sauce

1/4 cup black vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp ginger, julienned

Directions

for the potstickers

Add 1 tbsp of oil to a very hot pan. Add in sliced mushrooms and sauté until nicely browned, about 6-8 minutes. Turn off the heat and add in bok choy. Stir together, letting the residual heat from the pan wilt the bok choy. Let cool slightly, about 10 mintues, then pulse the mixture in a food processor until minced. If you don’t have a food processor, chop as finely as you can.

In a medium bowl, stir to combine the minced mushroom and bok choy mixture with the quinoa, green onion and ginger. Add in the sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

To form the potstickers, place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling onto the middle of one wrapper. Dip your finger in some water and wet the entire perimeter of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper and filling in half like a taco, without sealing. Starting at one end, begin to pinch the seam together, followed by a pleat along one side of the wrapper (doesn’t matter which side you pleat, as long as you’re only pleating one side consistently) and another pinch. Continue to pinch and pleat along the edge of the potsticker – about 5-6 pleats per dumpling.

Note: It took about 6 potstickers before I folded one that looked halfway decent, and about 18 until I had a steady rhythm and was folding pleating them quickly. Be patient, and don’t worry about perfect pleats. As long as it’s sealed it’ll be delicious.

Heat about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet that has a lid. Place potstickers in the pan seam-side up, being careful not to overcrowd the pan and making sure that they don’t touch. Once the bottoms have browned nicely, about 4-5 minutes, add in about 1/4 cup of chicken broth and quickly place the lid on the pan. Be careful, the oil will splatter once you add in the broth. Let the potstickers steam and absorb the broth – about 5 minutes. Repeat in batches with remaining potstickers.

Note: These freeze great! Place any potstickers you don’t want to eat immediately on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make sure they aren’t touching. Freeze until… frozen. lol About 3-4 hours. Seal in airtight freezer bags.

Serve hot along with hot mustard and black vinegar dipping sauce. Also great with sambal, sriracha and garlic-chili paste.

for the dipping sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust soy sauce and vinegar to taste.