It’s the weekend at last and if you enjoy cooking, a family vegan potsticker making session is a great way to spend your Saturday, especially when the weather does not entice you outside…
I love potstickers and I enjoy making them too, but I do get a tad discouraged seeing how quickly they disappear down Duncan’s mouth (he is a prolific dumpling eater). I guess it’s a compliment and I should treat it as such, but they do take a lot of time and effort to make and to see them all hoovered up in less than 15 minutes makes feel that maybe I should have made something quicker to put together. This is why I don’t make them very often, but when I do I try to rope Duncan in for the pleating part as it’s more fun doing it together! You can chat, have some wine while you make them and have a good laugh as each subsequent dumpling looks wonkier…and wonkier. As long as they taste great that’s all that counts, right? These puppies are stuffed with oyster mushrooms, dried shiitake and spinach. They taste great with a simple dipping sauce. And if you end up with any leftover filling (I tend to be quite generous filling these), don’t worry, it will make an awesome lunch, stirred through some brown rice and drizzled with Sriracha and some soy sauce.
1-2 tbsp peanut (or other vegetable) oil (+ more for frying) 4 spring onions, white part finely chopped 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 heaped tbsp finely chopped ginger 300 g / 10 oz oyster mushrooms 3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water 300 g / 10 oz spinach, chopped finely ¼ tsp Chinese five spice, adjust to taste 1/8 tsp white pepper ¼ tsp hot chilli flakes, adjust to taste 30-45 ml / 2-3 tbsp soy sauce 15 ml / 1 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tsp mirin approx. 2 tbsp panko (or regular) breadcrumbs (optional)
DIPPING SAUCE
30 ml / 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 8 ml / 1½ tsp toasted sesame oil 15 ml / 1 tbsp rice vinegar fresh chilli, finely sliced or pinch of chilli flakes 1 tsp sesame seeds 2 cm / 1″ finely sliced spring onion
