Chef Michael Salmon

Thai Pork Pot Stickers

Michael Salmon

Thai Pork Pot Stickers

Pot stickers are a hybrid type of dumpling that are both steamed and fried, creating a texture that captures the best of both worlds. This recipe has a Thai flavored pork filling and is served with a light and bright Thai dipping sauce.

There are three components to this recipe:

  1. Pot Sticker Dough
  2. Thai Pork Filling
  3. Thai-Lime Dipping Sauce

Pot Sticker Dough

Pot Sticker Dough

Pot Sticker dough is very easy to make and is made up of flour, salt and water. Place the flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour in the boiling water. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine (and cool) the mixture. It will probably still be quite dry and crumbly.  Once the dough is cool enough to handle, work the dough with your hands and it will form into a pliable dough ball. Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead the dough for 2 minutes. Place back into the bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Thai Pork Filling

This dumpling filling is simple to make, but requires some knife skills and patience. It is important to cut all of the ingredients into tiny pieces (mince) so they can all be distributed well among the filling, and each dumpling shares the same characteristic flavoring. My “go-to” knife for this (and almost everything else) is the 7-inch Global Santoku. Once everything is cut up, everything is simply mixed together and chilled for 1 hour.

Thai-Lime Dipping Sauce

My Thai-Lime Dipping sauce is “light and bright” balancing fresh lime juice with salty fish sauce. Freshly minced ginger, mint and cilantro gives this dipping sauce it’s characteristic Thai flavor and an herbaceous punch.

Forming the Dumplings

Portion the pot stickers dough into 20 gram pieces. Roll out the dough into 4-inch round circles and lightly wet the outer edge of the circle. Place 1 Tablespoon of chilled filling (15 grams) in the center of the dough circle. Hold the circle in your left hand (for righty’s) and using your right hand, fold the circle in half, covering the filling, and create pleats, pressing the two halves together as you move along. The bottom edge (which becomes the inside top edge of the dumpling) stays straight, and the pleats are all created with the top edge of the dough.

It takes a little practice to learn this technique. A simple and inexpensive plastic dumpling press can be used until you master this dumpling shape. For more detail on forming the pot sticker dumpling shape, watch the video below.

Cooking the Dumplings

I use an 8-inch nonstick skillet for cooking pot stickers. Drizzle a cold skillet with the canola oil and place the folded dumplings on top, filling the pan with the dumplings getting them close, but not touching. I fit 14 dumplings in my 8-inch skillet. Place the pan on medium heat and add 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Cover the skillet and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Steam the dumplings for 6 minutes without removing the lid.

Remove the lid, and increase the heat to medium. Continue cooking on the heat until all of the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Once the moisture is gone, the dumplings will start to crisp on the bottom of the skillet. Cook them until they reach a nice golden brown color on their bottoms. Remove the pot stickers from the pan gently with a fish spatula or tongs and serve them with the dipping sauce.

Tools and food products I used in this recipe

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Thai Pork Pot Stickers

Recipe by Michael SalmonCourse: AppetizersCuisine: Chinese, ThaiDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

45

minutes
Cooking time

15

minutes

Yields about 30 dumplings

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour 

  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

  • 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons boiling water

  • 1 Tablespoon canola oil

  • Thai Pork Dumpling Filling

  • 1/2 pound ground pork

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 teaspoons minced ginger

  • 3 Tablespoons minced red bell pepper 

  • 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

  • 1 Tablespoon chopped mint

  • 1/2 cup minced bok choy

  • 3 scallions, green part only, finely chopped

  • 1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce

  • 2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce

  • 1 large egg, beaten lightly

  • Thai Lime Dipping Sauce

  • 2 limes, juiced

  • 1/4 cup fish sauce

  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

  • 1 Tablespoon minced ginger

  • 1 Tablespoon shredded fresh mint leaves

  • 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  • For the dough, combine the flour, salt and boiling water, mix with a spoon to cool down slightly and knead for a few minutes until smooth. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
  • Knead for 2 minutes, roll out 1-inch thick and cut into 20 gm discs.
  • Roll the dough into 4 inch circles, fill with 1-Tablespoon of filling, about 15 grams. Brush the edge with a dab of water and pleat the pot sticker and seal tightly. A small dumpling press can be used until you master the folding and pleating technique. See the associated video for technique.
  • Drizzle a skillet with the canola oil and place the folded dumplings on top, filling the pan. Place the pan on medium heat and add 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Cover the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and steam the dumplings for 6 minutes without removing the lid.
  • Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and continue cooking until all of the water has evaporated. Once the moisture is gone, the dumplings will start to crisp on the bottom of the skillet. Cook them until they reach a nice golden brown color on their bottoms. Remove the pot stickers from the pan gently with a fish spatula and serve them with the dipping sauce.
  • Thai Pork Dumpling Filling
  • In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and chill for 1 hour.
  • Thai Lime Dipping Sauce
  • Combine all and mix well.
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