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)
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Cook the noodles stirring until they separate
and drain.
- 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.
makes pretty quick work of it.
