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Chinese Name: 锅贴
English Name: Potsticker
Category: Snack小吃
Main Ingredients: Flour
Potsticker锅贴, a famous traditional snack in northern China, is distributed in other parts of the country and belongs to the fried snack category. The filling of pot stickers is matched with different fresh vegetables according to the season. The shape of pot stickers varies from place to place, generally in the shape of slender dumplings, but Tianjin pot stickers are similar to bag burning褡裢火烧.
It is said that in the spring of the third year of Jianlong建隆 in the Northern Song Dynasty北宋 because the funeral of the empress dowager had just been completed, the Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty宋太祖 did not want to eat or drink. Song Taizu was walking alone in the courtyard in the afternoon. Suddenly, a fragrance came and he felt relaxed and happy. He followed the fragrance to the imperial dining room.
The imperial chef was frying the leftover dumplings in an iron pan and eating them. He dared not move when he saw Taizu come in. Shitaizu hasn’t had a good meal these days. The smell of this time aroused his appetite, so he asked the imperial chef to taste some. After tasting, Shitaizu felt crisp and soft, very delicious, and he ate four or five in a row.
Later, when Taizu太祖 asked what the name was, the imperial chef couldn’t answer for a moment. Taizu looked at the dumplings fried in an iron pan and said casually, “It’s called Guotie锅贴.”. At 11:00 p.m. in the first month, Taizu went to the Yingchun Garden迎春苑 banquet to shoot arrows. When entertaining the ministers, he asked the imperial chefs to make this potsticker for everyone to enjoy.
The imperial chefs improved their taste and appearance, and the ministers appreciated it after eating. Later, the potstickers were spread from the palace to the people, and after continuous research and improvement by chefs of all ages, they finally became the potstickers of today.
When making pot stickers, we should use a flat-bottomed pot, apply a layer of oil and place the pot stickers neatly. When frying, sprinkle some water evenly. It is better to sprinkle water with a kettle with a small mouth on the gap of the pot sticker to make it penetrate into the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan, pan fry for two or three minutes, then sprinkle water again. Fry for another two or three minutes, sprinkle water again and then pour a little oil. You can eat it in about five minutes.
When taking it out with a shovel, five or six pieces are connected together, the bottom is golden yellow, and the surrounding and upper parts are slightly soft and steaming, which is the best. When eating, the skin is crispy and soft, and the filling is also rotten and crisp. The aroma is pungent and the aftertaste is endless. It’s a wonderful enjoyment.
The filling of pot stickers is also like the filling of dumplings. It can be meat or vegetable, pig or mutton, or seafood. In the old days, there was an old shop specializing in pot stickers at the Zhuba Shikou of Xi’an West Street, which was very popular. Xi’an pot stickers are usually filled with pork and leeks, and mixed with yellow flour paste and sesame oil. They are fragrant and fresh.
Many people can’t tell the difference between potstickers and fried dumplings煎饺. They think they are the same. In some places, potstickers are even called fried dumplings, but in fact, the production methods of the two are essentially different.
The biggest difference between fried dumplings and pot stickers is that they need to be fried first and then boiled, or they need to be boiled first and then fried. In a word, cooking is the most important difference between fried dumplings and pot stickers. The bottom of the fried dumplings is crisp, and the upper skin is soft, similar to the fried dumplings; Pot stickers are more like fried dumplings, which are crispy.
How to make Potsticker?
Ingredients：
- 300 grams of wheat flour
- 50 grams of onions
- 150g chives
- 200g pork
- 3 grams of salt
- 2 grams of pepper
- 2 g sesame oil
- 25 g vegetable oil
Instruction:
- Step 1, Wash the leek, peel, and mince the onion; Chop the pork, then add salt, pepper, and sesame oil along the same direction and mix well; Then add the leek and onion, and mix well to form the meat.
- Step 2, Spread out the dumpling skin, put the meat into the dumpling and knead it into a long shape, and gently press the two ends.
- Step 3, Pour 15g oil into a frying pan and heat it. Fry the wrapped potstickers slowly over low heat.
- Step 4, When the water dries quickly, fry it over a large fire and pour 10g oil on it before serving.
