My father had a great influence on me in many ways, not the least of which was stirring up a passion for Chinese food and cooking. My earliest memory of using a knife to chop vegetables in our kitchen was while I was helping Dad prepare one of the many multi-course Chinese feasts that he did for friends and family. Of all the dishes that I learned back then, my favorite Chinese dish was, and still is, Potstickers. When done right, they are soft on the top, crispy on the bottom, and when combined with the dipping sauce, Potstickers is one of life’s greatest pleasures! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Dumpling Dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup boiling water

Filling:

• 8 ounces Napa cabbage
• 1 oz. peeled, fresh ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pound boneless pork loin
• ¼ cup finely chopped green onions, with tops
• 1 TB white wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Dash white pepper

Dipping Sauce:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce or Chinese Mustard (optional)

PREPARATION

Cut the ginger into ¼-inch pieces. Cut the cabbage into 1-inch pieces. Put ginger in food processor and pulse until very fine. Add cabbage and pulse until cabbage is very fine and mixed with ginger. Place cabbage/ginger mixture in large bowl. Cut pork into cubes and place in processor. Pulse until pork is very finely chopped. Add pork to bowl with cabbage. Add the green onions, wine, cornstarch, salt, sesame oil, white pepper to the pork and cabbage mixture. Mix well.

In another bowl, mix the flour and 1 cup boiling water until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough on a lightly flour surface for about 5 minutes or until smooth.

Divide the dough in half. Roll dough out on a floured surface until thin, but not transparent. Cut 3-inch circles out of dough and place 1 tablespoon pork mixture in the center of each circle. Wet the edge of the dough and fold the dough over the meat mixture and then pinch dough closed around meat. Press edges with a fork to seal dumpling. Place on a lightly floured surface until ready to cook. Repeat with the remaining circles of dough and filling. The scrap dough can be reworked and cut.

Heat a nonstick skillet until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to pan. Place as many dumplings in the pan as will comfortably fit and cook until the bottoms are golden brown.

Add ½ cup water to pan. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes, remove lid and continue cooking until the water is evaporated and dumplings begin to get crisp on the bottom. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

To make the dipping sauce, in a small bowl, mix the soy sauce with sesame oil, vinegar, and hot sauce. There are many variations of dipping sauces. Don’t be afraid to try some different combinations of ingredients. Serve with the dumplings.

The marinade for this recipe is a variation of my typical Asian-style marinade. Like most things that you are going to eat, it is important to get a proper balance of flavors. Have you ever made something, tasted it, and then thought, “It needs something!,” except that you have no clue as to what that something is? Maybe this will help. Flavor categories are a great way to make sure you have all of the necessary elements in an excellent dish covered. Here is how I break down the flavors:

1. Salty – Of course salt creates salty, but remember, so does soy sauce. Most processed foods are loaded with salt. If you eat fresh food and salt accordingly you will have no issues with salt. Salt is also very often the missing culprit when a dish “needs something.”
2. Savory – Garlic, onions, herbs, spices, aromatic vegetables, leafy vegetables. Also includes proteins like fish, meat, chicken, etc.
3. Fats & Dairy – Oils, butter, cream, etc. Gives things a pleasing mouth feel.
4. Sweet – Honey, sugar, and almost everything in nature has some sugar!
5. Acidic – Wine, citrus, vinegar, etc. This is the first thing that I, and most chefs, check when a sauce is “not quite there.” For instance, Alfredo sauce can be made with cream and cheese, but add some garlic (savory) and white wine (acidic) and you have a much better sauce.

Use this list as a checking point when cooking and try to find the balance between the different flavors. Below is my “well-balanced” marinade for Chinese Pork Chops; I will note which category the ingredients fall into.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 boneless pork loin chops

For the marinade

• ¼ cup chopped cilantro (savory)
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger (savory)
• ½ cup soy sauce (savory and salty)
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar (acidic)
• ¼ teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (savory) – available at our Price Cutter Plus stores in the ethnic foods section
• 1 tablespoon Chinese hot mustard (savory)
• 2 tablespoons dark, sesame oil (fats)
• 3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce (sweet)

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Place pork chops on a cutting board and with a paring knife, poke about 12 slits in each chop to allow the marinade to get “inside” the chop. Pour 3/4 of the marinade into a large, Ziploc bag with the chops. Reserve remaining marinade for drizzling on finished pork. Let pork marinate overnight if you can. A minimum time should be 3 hours at room temperature.

Grill the chops over a hot fire until they are medium well or 140°. Remove from grill and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Place on plate and drizzle each chop with reserved marinade. Serve with stir-fried broccoli. Enjoy!