Potstickers - the universal dumpling

When I want a quick and easy lunch with not to much fuss and mess I make up a batch of Potstickers. Almost every culture has some sort of dumpling and the Chinese culture have Potstickers. Why do they call them potstickers? Because when you cook them they are supposed to stick to the bottom of the pot and create a crust on the bottom.

Potstickers are pure simplicity. All they are is some thin dough with some sort of meat or protein filling normally. You can make them as easy as I did today or you can make them from scratch with a little more effort.

For those of you that think you can't cook here's a little help to make this easy go to lunch to impress the people that say you can't cook. Want to know how?

Go to your local chinese market or good grocery store that sells frozen potstickers. The ones I bought were pork and chive I think. Sometimes they just say dumplings but make sure they are not the soup ones.

All you need to do is grab a frying pan that has a lid to fit and preheat the pan to high and then put in about a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil, depending on the size of the pan. Make sure you leave space between each dumpling so don't overcrowd the pan.

After you warm the oil put the dumplings in the pan and turn the heat down to medium and quickly add about 1/4 cup of water to steam the dumplings and quickly put the lid on. The steam will defrost and cook the dumplings and the water should evaporate. When the water evaporates just make sure you flip the dumplings around and they will brown on the bottom and once they have a bit of a brown crust they should be done.

Dipping Sauce:

2 tbsp. Black Vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
you can add about a dime's size of grated fresh ginger or to taste

if you like it saltier you can add a couple of drops of soy sauce.

You can make any combinations of dipping sauce depending on how salty or tangy you like it.

Place the sauce in a small dipping bowl and place the potstickers on a place and serve.

Voila..you have an easy, tasty, quick and impressive lunch that you and your lunch guests will love.

You can also serve them as appetizers at a party. Great for snacks or for lunch.

It doesn't have to be complicated to be good.

Now you know why people around the world make some sort of dumpling whether it's ravioli, potstickers, perogies or whatever you call it.. It's just good food stuffed into a dough shell.

It's all good no matter where you have it in the World.