Dinner Party

International Savory Potstickers

I call these “International” because I use Italian Sausage and a few common ingredients used in Asian cooking. This brings a couple of amazing cultures together in one amazing dish.  

Makes about 45

1 lb ground mild Italian sausage

2 tbsp ginger, minced

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1/2 onion, peeled & diced

1 tsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp scallions, diced

2 Tbsps Japanese Barbecue Sauce (Bachan’s is the best!)

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 pkg of Won Ton Wrappers (48)

Water 

1 egg

  1. Saute onion in oil until lightly brown, add ginger, garlic, sesame oil , scallions and Japanese Barbecue Sauce.  Saute for one more minute and add Italian sausage.  Once Italian sausage is browned, remove everything from the pan, except the oil (save for cooking Potstickers). 
  2. Cool this mixture for at least an hour in the fridge.
  3. Whisk egg and water in a small bowl for egg wash.
  4. Place wontons on a board, 6 at a time.  Place a tsp of mixture on each wonton and use your finger to dip in the egg wash and run along sides.  Bring up to crimp or pinch it together like a triangle.
  5. Once all of the wontons are assembled, heat pan with leftover oil to medium high.  
  6. Depending on the size of your pan you may have to work in batches.  Brown the Potsticker on one side, flip, by this point most of your oil should be gone.  Add 1/4 cup of water and cover.  Cook for about 6 minutes until water is evaporated.  

Serve with a dipping bowl of Japanese Barbecue Sauce.

What I learned in this recipe…

  • Bachan’s means Grandma in Japanese and that Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce is amazing!
  • Dumplings are traditionally steamed, where Potstickers are lightly fried (and in many recipes like mine, fried then steamed).
  • Assembling wontons to be Potstickers, the videos online make it look easy, they are not!  I tried using a basting brush instead of my finger for egg wash, bad idea.  You have to use just a light amount and work quickly to get the edges to seal.  Of the 48 I made, 45 turned out, I’ll take it.
  • You must cool your mixture before assembling on your wontons.  I did learn this the hard way a few years ago when I first started developing this recipe.  Nothing worked, the mixture must be cooled.
  • After cooking you can freeze on a sheet pan then put in freezer bags to take out and heat up as many as you want, worked great.
  • The taste of these wontons could earn a gold award, wow, pretty impressive!

Take your time, you can do it and the taste is worth it!

-Angie

Japanese Barbecue Fried Rice