As I understand them, pot stickers resulted from a delectable mistake made by a Chinese cook who left his dumplings poaching unattended and all the water boiled out of the wok (guo), making the dumplings stick (tie). So the Asian dumplings are technically wok stickers (guo tie) but in English, we know them as pot stickers. I thought that that was the story, but last week in Sydney, my dear friend Christopher Tan, a Singapore-based food writer and Asian pastry expert told me about a type of pot sticker that I’d not heard of or seen.
“The cook pours on a thin layer of batter into the skillet as the pot stickers pan-fry. When they are done, there is a crisp layer that comes out with all the dumplings,” Chris told me in his lilting, slightly gravelly Singaporean accent. I kind of understood what he was talking about and thought it was a novel trick and extended play on the concept of a pot sticker.
On my second day in Melbourne, I stumbled upon a dumpling restaurant down one of many alleyways in the city. It was called Hutong Dumpling Bar at 16 Market Lane, across Flower Drum, which some say has the city’s best dim sum (“dim sim” in Melbourne, “yum cha” in Sydney). Hútòng (衚衕) in Mandarin refers to the many alleys in Beijing that are framed by traditional courtyard residences.There are few old-fashioned hutongs left in Beijing and I was smitten by the restaurant’s thoughtful usage of the word, as it connected Melbourne to China in modern setting. I’m also a sucker for alleyway restaurants as they evoke a certain romance. It was 11:30am when I walked in the door, ahead of the lunch rush. The waiter seated me right by the glass kitchen window, a perfect spot for observing the dumpling masters.
The waiter delivered the Shanghai pot stickers pictured above and they were not what I expected for the following reasons:
- The crisp skirt (I can’t figure out a better term for it) was very delicate, not like they mixed all purpose wheat flour and water together. Look at how thin and crisp the skirt is.
- The skirt wrinkled a tad, so there’s got to be some flexibility (glutinous) in the flour or starch that was used. The skirt remained crisp for about 10 minutes, and then softened.
- The pot sticker dumpling skins were very soft and glossy, as if there was a decent amount of oil in the dough.
- The pleating was tiny so the dough was super soft and damp.
- The filling was very fatty and juicy, a tad sweet as it should be with Shanghai food. They may use the same filling for the pot sticker as for the Shanghai soup dumplings.
My question to you is this: Do you know what these pot stickers were produced? Thoughts on the skirt? What about the dough? What could be the Chinese secret behind these pot stickers?
Lend me your thoughts as I’ll be trying to figure this out soon.
Btw, the only other dumpling I tried was Hutong's daikon radish cakes but it was overly wet and undercooked inside the fried pastry. Melbournian bloggers Tummy Rumbles, Melhotornot, and Suck My Radish offer their reviews if you'd like the low down.
I’ve never seen Chinese dumplings quite like those.
My local Ramen place sells gyoza which are all connected and served crispy side up (quite different and far less elegant than yours of course).
That version must be somewhat rare for gyoza as well, as my Google image search produced only a few pics of gyoza made in that way, one coincidentally (or not, actually) which was from a post about my local Ramen shop.
I’ve not seen a “skirt” like this before, but I would guess it’s made of a rice flour slurry.
Thank you for your reports from Australia, may get there again, if so your tips will be handy.
I have a gyoza recipe book, which includes a method for making the crispy ‘skirt’. Please email me if you would like me to send scanned photos. The recipe is in Japanese but there are many detailed photos. The recipe is for 150 gyoza.
The ingredients for the crispy skirt for this quantity are: 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup water, 7 cups boiling water.
Method: Mix flour and cold water together using a whisk until no lumps remain. While whisking continuously add sufficient boiling water to achieve a pourable thin glue-like consistency. (This is why I want to send you photos! )
Place gyoza on hot well seasoned cooking surface around 1cm thick, over low flame. Turn flame up a bit and immediately pour about a wok-ladle full of the above liquid over and around the gyoza. (The photos show 3 rows of 6 gyoza on the hot plate for this quantity, my own wok ladle looks the same size, I’ve just measured it, it holds around 300cc) . Turn the heat down again, cover with lid. Once the thin skirt has become dry and starting to colour, sprinkle a tablespoon of oil over the gyoza and cook until golden.
I like this method and have used it often myself – scaled of course!
Kind regards, Robyn
Hey Andrea – what were these called in Chinese? Never saw them in Shanghai. Interesting! Just goes to show that the world of dumplings is vast and could take years and years to explore! Asian Dumplings Volume II?
I have had this style gyoza in Seattle many times, in a long-closed Japanese restaurant whose owner retired back to Japan and broke my heart. I’m so happy to 1) be reminded of them, and 2) have a recipe to try.
RobynNZ — WHOA! Thank you for the recipe. I’d love to have the photo(s). I think I know exactly what you mean by gluey consistency. However, do email the images from the book to:
[email protected].
I’ll work it out and post up a recipe for all of us to use — 150 gyoza? Oh my…
Robyn (KL) — Aiyah, I normally get a receipt but didn’t get one from Hutong so I don’t know what the zhongwen de mingzi is. I’ll ask Chris Tan, who’s having lunch/dinner with Fuchsia Dunlop in Singapore this week. Small world we live in, huh?
From @bob_ferrapuhls via Twitter, two links to Japanese gyoza with skirts:
http://honolulueats.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/raraya-ramen/
http://www.ucdadvocate.com/infocus/oshima-ramen-and-the-end-of-the-world-1.436244
Is this a Japanese or Chinese thing or both?
The “skirt” texture you describe sounds a lot like a crepe I ate on the street in Taipei. Those were rolled up dosas-style around savory fillings but the texture of the crepe itself sounds very similar, and the batter for that was a thin mix of rice flour, beaten egg, and water. Might be worth a try?
Andrea, these types of dumplings can be found in Beijing, except i’ve seen the crispy web-side of the dumpling facing up on the plate, not on the bottom like in your picture. I’m sorry I don’t know what they are called though.
Yes, those types of pot stickers are very common in Beijing. If you stay at the Grand Hyatt and eat at “Made in China” (a very famous Chinese restaurant in Beijing), that’s how they serve their guo tie. I personally don’t like it that much, the crispy layers have no taste and they are probably made with rice flour and water, maybe some salt). They are always served upward facing, with the crispy veil on top.
Jade and Rasa Malaysia — thanks for the info. Christopher Tan of foodfella.com sent me some pictures of the dumplings presented with the skirt facing up. I think I may have figured out how to make the skirt. Stay tuned…
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Um…like the style of your writing.
The longer a problem is carried,the heavier it gets.
Um…like the style of your writing.*_*
I found a favorate place in Okinawa that serves the gyoza this way and I took a picture if any one wants to see it let me know. Better yet, I asked the chef how he did it and he replied with two words and a shifty smile “Pork Soup”. I think if you use a pork ramen broth that is slightly thickened with rice flour or rice starch (certainly not wheat) to simmer the gyoza untill it left a crisp layer, you would get this result. I had been attempting it with strait broth but only found success with thickened broth. a hot well seasoned iron pan that resist sticking is also needed.
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