Japanese Pot-Stickers

In this dish adapted from the Chinese kitchen, rounds of wheat dough, about 3 inches in diameter, are stuffed with minced pork and cabbage. In China such dumplings are usually steamed or cooked in boiling water. In Japan we pan-fry them before steaming them in the skillet.

According to legend, the pan-fry method of cooking dumplings was born out of necessity in China. It is said that the servants of a wealthy family had to eat cold cooked, leftover dumplings. Instead of resteaming o