No Animals Harmed 2: Vegan Potstickers with Kohlrabi and Chow Mein

I had been wanting to make these potstickers for a long time.  These sorts of dishes are ones that I have a bit of a love hate relationship for.  It is easy to have a bit of disdain for the completely repetitive nature of the task that you have when it comes to making potstickers from scratch.  Whether it is potsickers, ravioli or any other type of small stuffed item.  The effort that you put forth is definitely worth it to achieve the beautiful results.  It starts off slow at first but once you get the hang of it you really start to go pretty fast. It’s pretty cool to see just how many you can get done once you really get the hang of it.

One of my favorite vegetables is kohlrabi.  It is a little hard to find sometimes and it tastes like a combination of broccoli and cabbage.  In a pinch for this recipe you could easily substitute a peeled stem of broccoli in for the kohlrabi bulbs used inside of the potstickers.  You can also sub in most any type of green for the kohlrabi greens used in the chow mein.  Kohlrabi is definitely worth searching for at your local farmer’s market though.  I seek it out every time it comes into season.

Kohlrabi Tofu Potstickers

Ingredients:

1 package super firm oraganic sprouted Tofu

2 Tablespoons Sirracha

1/8 cup Tamari (or soy or Liquid aminos)

4 Tablespoons Cashew butter

3 Tablespoons Cilantro

1 Bunch Kohlrabi

2 Cloves garlic

1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

½ Bunch Scallions

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

½ Quart of Vegetable stock (You can also use water here, but I like the extra flavor that the veg  stock adds make sure you have low sodium broth or make your own without salt or as the stock cooks off you will be left with unbearably salty dumplings.)

1 package wonton wrappers (There are vegan and gluten free brands out there, but I honestly didn’t search for them for this dish.  I was not at all thinking about eggs being an ingredient in the wontons, after searching around the internet a bit the best place to find them are Asian markets and Whole Foods)

1. Combine all the ingredients, save the wonton wrappers of course and the kohlrabi, in a food processor until you come out with a thick paste.  Make sure you remove all excess liquid from the tofu before you take it too the food processor.  The mixture should be thick enough to stick to a spoon for a couple of seconds if you hold it in the air a bit.  If you screw up and add too much liquid (as I did in my first batch by having nearly double the amount of tamari and not squeezing the liquid out of my tofu very well), then you can add more tofu to thicken things back up.
2. Peel and dice the Kohlrabi, reserving the greens for the chow mein.  (A note on peeling Kohlrabi, it is one of those vegetables that you have to peel it much more than you think you have to peel it, and make sure you remove all of the woody end on the bottom).  Once you’re done with your dicing mix it in with your Tofu mixture.  (When I made this originally, with the two packages of tofu, I only needed Kohlrabi from two of the three bulbs that came in my bunch.  Use your best judgment for home much kohlrabi you want in  the tofu to provide a nice bit of textural difference without it turning into diced up kohlrabi with a bit of tofu mixed in.  I would suggest one bulb of kohlrabi for this recipe about 1/3 of a cup diced).
3. Form your potstickers being sure not to overstuff.  For me I used a heaping teaspoon for each wrapper.  I overstuffed on the first couple, but make sure you have room to close.   To set up for this I keep a small dish of water nearby to wet the edges of the wrapper before folding and sealing it up.  I find the easiest way to make them look cool is to fold all the point together when you’re using square wrappers.  If you’re using actual dumpling wrappers, from the Asian market I was too lazy to drive too, they come in a circle and you would do fill them the same using a little water to seal the edges, and you can just fold them  in half.  I took a dumpling making class once so I know the method behind folding and sealing dumplings but it's hard to find a good youtube video to explain it.... Maybe I should make one.
4. I have to do this in a few batches, so I heat a tablespoon of the coconut oil over medium high heat and then add the potstickers.  I cook them until I see them browning around the bottom and add just enough stock to go about an eighth of an inch up the side of the dumplings.  Then I cover, and cook until the steam nearly stops (about 10 minutes).

Filling Ignore the arm

Bringing em together. (Ugly ones weren't folded by me)

Potsticker Dipping Sauce (Super Easy and Super Optional)

¼ Cup of Mirin

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tablespoon Sirracha (More if you like things spicy).

1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil

1 Tablespoon Sesame seeds

1. Combine ingredients and whisk together.

Kohlrabi Green and Mushroom Chow Mein

Kohlrabi Greens Washed and chopped

8 oz Mushrooms, roughly chopped or sliced (I tend to buy whatever mushroom is on sale and for this dish it happened to be cremini.  Button, shitake, Oyster, Enoki, even portabella would make a good sub though).

2-8 oz pacakges Udon Noodles (See above blurb about the wonton wrappers)

1 Medium yellow onion sliced

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons Tamari

2 Tablespoons Garlic Chili Paste

1. Sautee the onions, mushrooms and remaining diced kohlrabi if you have any left in the coconut oil, while bringing a pot of water for the Udon noodles to boil.
2.  Add the noodles to boiling water and stir until they separate.  Add the greens to the pan with the mushrooms as soon as you add the noodles.
3. Cook the noodles stirring until they separate and drain.
4. Add the noodles to the pan with the mushrooms and add the soy and chili paste.  Cook while stirring until the greens are just melted and the noodles take on color from the soy and chili paste.