Potsticker dumplings are one of my favourite things to eat so I thought it’s high time they made an appearance on the blog. The dough is very similar to Polish pierogi, which I grew up on, so perhaps that is why I love them so much. They seem strangely familiar yet exotic at the same time.
There is something nice about biting into a crispy dumpling filled with a delicious, spicy filling. I filled my dumpings with my favourite pumpkin: butternut squash, making these awesome spicy butternut squash dumplings. The sweetness of butternut squash goes so well with the saltiness of soy sauce and hotness of chilli that I find them utterly irresistible. What I find genius about potstickers is their cooking method. If you want to eat crispy pierogi, you need to cook them in boiling water first, let them cool down and only then they are ready for some pan-frying action. The end result is the same but it is so much more time consuming. I love Chinese pragmatism when it comes to making sure that their potstickers are nice and crispy. You crisp the bottoms up in a hot pan first, then add a bit of water and pop a lid on to let them cook in their own steam and finally cook them uncovered for another minute or so to ensure that they turn out crispy at the bottom. The entire process takes no more than 12 minutes. It’s genius and I’ve now taken to making Polish pierogi the same way (just don’t tell any Polish grandmas that!).
3 spring onions, white part finely chopped 4 tsp grated ginger 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 3 cups of roasted butternut squash / approx. ½ squash, mashed* 2 tbsp / 30 ml soy sauce 1 tbsp rice vinegar ½-1 tsp hot chilli flakes / 2-3 tsp Sriracha sauce 1 tbsp of high smoke point oil, for frying (I used peanut oil)
DIPPING SAUCE
2 tbsp / 30 ml dark soy sauce 1½ tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp rice vinegar fresh chilli, finely sliced or pinch of chilli flakes 1 tsp sesame seeds 2 cm of finely sliced spring onion
