Fatfree Potstickers

From Cynthia J. Gibas

I made some fatfree 'potstickers' the other day.My new Korean housemate said that they were good but they needed more salt, and that she personally prefers them steamed to fry/steamed as it is done in restaurants here.

This is a time and labor intensive recipe, but when it's done, you'll be very happy as you suck down dozens of these things which usually go for 6/$3 in restaurants!

You'll need:

• 2 packages of prepared potsticker or gyoza skins (find ones without egg).
  They are about 3" in diameter, round.

Prepare filling:
in a large pot, 'saute':

• 6 large carrots, grated
• 1/4-1/2 small head of cabbage, sliced thinly
• 1/4 c. unsweetened rice wine

When carrots and cabbage have softened, place about 1/2 of the carrot/cabbage mixture in a food processor and process with:

• 1 can (small, 10 oz?) bamboo shoots
• 1 handful of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked (10-20+ mushrooms, to taste)

mix blended stuff with unblended cabbage and carrots and add:

• 1 cup TVP, hydrated with some mushroom-soaking water, then drained
• 2 T. white or yellow miso, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 c. water
• soy sauce to taste
• white pepper to taste
• chopped scallions (optional)
• 2 T. cornstarch, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 c. water

The filling should be moist and cohesive, but not drippy, so adjust water amounts.
Place a small blob of filling in the center of each potsticker wrapper.
Fold the wrapper in half, using water to seal. Join the points of the resulting half circle together, which will result in a little round 'hat'; it looks sort of like a tortellini (tortellinus?).
Or do the traditional potsticker fold if you know how (it's harder to explain).

Place several potstickers on a bed of cabbage leaves in your bamboo steamer over a pot of boiling water.
Cover, and do something else for about 7 min.
Eat potstickers immediately with a sauce of:

• 1 part soy sauce
• 1 part rice vinegar
• some grated fresh ginger or chopped scallions

You will need a few friends to help you eat these.