Ginger Pork and Brussels Sprout Potstickers with Sweet Chili Sauce

Easy homemade potstickers with pork, shredded Brussels sprouts, ginger and scallions. Pan seared and then steamed for a crunchy, yet soft flavor-packed bite. Served with a Sweet Chili Soy Sauce for dipping, these Potstickers make a perfect appetizer at your next holiday party, or whip them up for tasty weeknight meal!

WHAT ARE POTSTICKERS?

Potstickers are “steam-fried” dumplings made with round wrappers or square wonton wrappers and stuffed with juicy fillings, traditionally pork and cabbage. With a crispy bottom from the initial frying, and then juicy, soft a succulent doughy texture from streaming, these bite sized savory appetizers are the best of both worlds!

WHAT ARE POTSTICKERS MADE OF?

Potstickers can be stuffed with all sorts of fillings, but traditionally they include some sort of minced meat and vegetables such as cabbage, onions, ginger, and garlic.  My Potsticker recipe is pretty traditional, except that I have replace the common place ingredient of cabbage with finely shredded Brussels spouts. Why? Well because… why not! Both are a cruciferous vegetable with a similar texture. My last Brussels sprout recipe for SHAVED BRUSSELS SPROUT SALAD WITH PEAR, BACON AND CRANBERRY was such a huge hit, and I find that my kids prefer Brussels sprouts over cabbage in general so I went with trying to appease my audience! However if you want to stick with cabbage, feel free to do so!

Pot stickers are also served with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. My dipping sauce is ridiculously easy, with just two ingredients! A store bought sweet Thai Chili sauce and soy sauce in equal parts are whisked together to pair magically and create a sweet, salty, umami packed flavor punch.

Ingredients for Ginger Pork and Brussels Sprout Potstickers:

Wonton Wrappers: These are found in the refrigerated section of the market. Usually near other speciality ethnic foods. They can be found in round or square shapes. Honestly I was looking for round, but could only find square on this particular grocery store visit, so I just went with it. If you really want to take it to the next level you could make your own dumpling dough…

Ground Pork: for the juiciest potstickers, don’t use lean ground pork.  If you cannot find ground pork, ask the butcher at the meat department to pork belly or pork shoulder.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts: Cabbage would also work. To quickly prepare the Brussels Spouts to finely shaven strips, trim the bottoms and then use the shredding disc attachment of a food processor.

Minced Ginger: Fresh ginger only! Use a paring knife to peel away the outer skin. You will likely need about a 1 inch piece.

Minced Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves, no prepared packaged variety. Smash the garlic to remove the outer shell, and finely mince.

Chopped Scallions: I prefer to use scallions over because of their mildly aromatic nature. They compliment well, but do not overpower

Chopped Cilantro: Love the freshness that the cilantro adds. It’s bright, fragrant and a bit citrusy.

Lime Zest: This adds acidity to the filling. Acidity is so important when working with any dish. Especially one with a high fat content. If you don’t have limes, you could substitute with 1 tsp of rice wine vinegar.

Soy Sauce: Low sodium is preferred, if you have.

Toasted Sesame Oil: toasted sesame oil is best but you can use regular if that’s what you have on hand.

How to Make Potstickers:

In large mixing bowl combine: ground pork, garlic, ginger, Brussels sprouts, scallions, lime zest, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix with fork to throughly combine. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to chill, which will make filling easier to work with.

Open wonton package, taking only a few out at a time to work with to prevent drying out. Leave remaining in package covered with towel.

If your shape is square: place about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of each wonton wrapper. Moisten finger tip with water and run along the edges. At my assembly station, I had a little ramekin of water for dipping my finger. Using finger tips, connect opposite corners and press to seal. Then bring together remaining two opposite corners and press along all connecting edges and middle tip to seal.

If your wonton shape is round: Spoon on about 1 tbsp of filling into the middle of. With finger tip, brush water around the edge of the wrapper. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half moon shape. Press with fingers to seal a and pleat the edges.

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Heat 1 tablespoons of oil in a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Its’s really important to use a non-stick! Add the potstickers in single layer, with enough space in between and cook until the bottoms are light golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully pour 1/4 cup of water into the skillet, and immediately cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn heat to low and let the dumplings steam for 5-6 minutes, until the filling is cooked through inside. 

Repeat process, until all are seared and steamed. You may keep finished potstickers warm in oven on low heat, while you work thorough the batch.

Serve warm with dipping sauce on the side, or spoon a bit of sauce on each potsticker to coat with sauce.

To Make in Advance or Freeze:

Refrigerated airtight dumplings for up to 2 days: Place uncooked dumplings in a single layer in an airtight container. Dumplings should not touch, otherwise they will stick together. To fit more in one container you could layer parchment paper over bottom layer, and then another single layer of dumplings. Alternatively, you could place potstickers on a parchment lined plate or baking tray (again, not touching) then wrap the plate/tray tightly with plastic wrap.

Freeze up to 3 months in Freezer bag: Place uncooked dumplings on a parchment lined baking tray so they are not touching. Wrap the tray tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze for 1 month OR after freezing for 1-2 hours (until potstickers are solid), transfer potstickers to a freezer bag and they can keep up to 3 months!

When ready to make, remove desired quantity from freezer and thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes before following the cooking instructions. 

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