Pork and Mushroom Pot Stickers

For mushrooms if you cannot get any of the specialty varieties just use swiss browns. I usually only use the black fungus sometimes known as cloud ear, wood ear or tree ear as they have an almost crispy texture and work well with the pork. If you can’t get the peppers I used then just use fresh ground black pepper say about a ½ tsp. (remember you can order on line from Herbies)

Mix all the ingredients together except for the peanut oil and boiling water. The quantities I have given are a guide, if you prefer more veg than meat then adjust or if you prefer a greater mix of mushroom to cabbage then add more mushrooms and less cabbage. The soy and hoi sin are there as a back ground flavour and for a little bit of moisture however you can add more than I have said if that is how you like it the same goes with the ginger and the seasoning. Once I have made the mix I will cook a teaspoon of it in a little peanut oil to check for balance, taste and seasoning and then adjust accordingly.

Lay out a won ton wrapper and place a teaspoon of the mix in the middle on the diagonal ie corner to corner. Have a small bowl of water nearby, dab your finger in the water and moisten the four sides of the won ton wrapper.

Take opposite corners of the wrapper (the flat side of the meat) and stick them together then lift the whole won ton by the corner stuck together and using your other hand press the remaining openings closed.

Put the pot stickers down making sure to press it gently on the bench so that it sits on a flat bottom with the top corner pointing up to the sky. Make as many as you want.

Heat a little peanut oil in a flat non stick pan (that has a tight fitting lid) and place the pot stickers flat bottom down and fry until golden brown.

Then pour in boiling water so that it is about 1/3 of the way up the pot stickers and then cover with a lid and cook until all the water has evaporated. This finishes off cooking the pot stickers by boiling and steaming them.

Remove from the pan and put on a plate.