Find Wealth in the Year of the Rooster with Pork Pot Stickers

The Chinese New Year on January 28th hustles in the Year of the Rooster.

It looks like the Year of the Rooster will be a kind year for those seeking the wealth of a BETTER YOU.

The Chinese horoscope predicts a powerful year, where impressions count and looking your best while being clear about your intentions is important for finding your fortune. It’s the hard workers that win this year, including those working to improve themselves.

Get your year started off right eating lucky foods. The Chinese believe eating fish, dumplings, spring rolls, tangyuan (sweet rice balls), good fortune fruit, naingao (glutinous rice cake) and longevity noodles on New Year’s Eve and over the 16-day festival brings wealth, good health prosperity throughout the year.

I don’t see any reason to tempt fate in my attempts to find the BETTER ME in 2017. I’ve already celebrated the calendar New Year with black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread. I’m following up with delicious pork pot stickers filled with ground pork, cabbage, carrots, lots of fresh ginger and just a hint of spicy heat and fresh herbs for the Chinese New Year.

This recipe makes four dozen tasty little pork pot stickers. I highly recommend you make extra and freeze them. Because they are so delicious and while time-consuming, easy to make.

I prefer to use dumpling wrappers but can’t always find them unless I go to the Asian markets. Wonton wrappers work just as well, so don’t fret if you can’t find the round dumpling wrappers for your pork pot stickers. Or you can just make your own wrappers.

The choice of dipping sauce is yours.

Personally, I love mixing a little fresh ginger, garlic and chili paste into soy sauce for a delicious easy to making my dipping sauce.

And if you want an easy short cut, use a bag of cole slaw mix for the shredded cabbage and carrots. In my opinion, the more veggies the better in pot stickers. It makes them healthier and so tasty.

I also precook my filling because it speeds up the cooking process later on. But it’s okay to use raw filling if you choose.

So enjoy homemade pork pot stickers at home in 2017, while you work towards finding the BETTER YOU. Trust me, you’ll love them. Hubby loved them so much, that the three dozen I froze didn’t last very long.

Happy Chinese New Year and good luck to you all in the Year of the Rooster.

Pork Pot Stickers

heidi medina

Tasty Pork Pot Stickers filled with ground pork, carrots, cabbage and spicy ginger and chili. Make extra to freeze for later.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 10

Total Time 1 10

Servings 4 dozen pot stickers

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork
1 cup cabbage finely chopped or grated
½ cup carrots grated
¼ cup cilantro chopped
2 green onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger grated
3 Tbsp. low-salt or salt free soy sauce
1 tsp. chili paste (Sambal) or to taste
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tsp. hoisen sauce or 2 tsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. ground white pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14 oz. package dumpling or wonton wrappers

Instructions

Cook pork in sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until done.
Add soy sauce, chili paste, rice wine vinegar and hoisen sauce, stirring to coat well.
Add cabbage, carrots, ginger and garlic, cooking until soft, about 2 minutes or until liquids have begun to evaporate. Mix needs to be mostly dry as not to soak through the wrappers while filling.
Remove mix from heat and stir in cilantro and green onions. Set aside to cool before using.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a small bowl with water and get ready to fill your wrappers.
Lay several wrappers out on a flat surface. Place about 1/2 tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper. Do not overfill.
To fold, dip your fingers in the water and run around the edge of wrapper. Fold wrapper in half and pinch edges together to close.
Repeat this process until you have finished all the wrappers. Set the finished pot stickers, without touching, onto the lined baking sheets.
To cook: coat a large skillet with a thin layer of oil and heat over medium heat.
Once oil is hot, place pot stickers in skillet, without touching, and cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add a splash of water to the skillet and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn heat to low and steam pot stickers for 3 to 5 minutes is using fresh pot stickers ro 6 to 8 minutes if using frozen. Wrappers will be translucent when ready.
Transfer pot stickers to a plate and repeat until all are cooked.
Serve immediately with the dipping sauce of your choice.

Notes

To freeze pot stickers: Place loaded baking sheets into the freezer and freeze pot stickers until solid. Transfer to a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months.

Do not unthaw to cook pot stickers. Instead follow directions above.

This post was originally published September 25, 2013, and have been completely rewritten, photographed and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.