Leave it to me to always head to recipes.
I started seeing recipes for vegetarian pot stickers. Only thing is they never seemed to have the ingredients I wanted. When I came across a recipe by the fabulous Mark Bittman of The New York Times, I knew I'd found my base recipe.
From his great beginnings came this recipe I use his method of cooking them, which is ridiculously smart, but the ingredients are mostly my idea (his were filled with pork).
My Vegetarian Pot Stickers
1/2 shredded carrot
1 c. shredded cabbage or bok choy (then mince it after you shred it -- think small enough to fit in a wonton wrapper)
1/4 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein, also known as textured soy protein -- you could even use ground soy crumbles)
1/4 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
2 Tbl. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbl soy sauce (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbls. peanut oil for frying
Optional: 1 egg, beaten (to help with sealing the wrappers -- otherwise, just use water to keep it vegan)
Combine all but the wrappers and frying oil in a large bowl. If it's a bit wet, add more TVP to soak up the juices.
On a dry surface (I use my Silpat for this), lay out your wonton wrappers, one or two at a time (keeps things neater and easier to manage). Using your finger, rub the egg around all edges of the wrapper.
Place a teaspoon of the mixture onto the center of your wrapper. fold over and pinch or press closed. (Mine resemble triangles -- you can close them however you like.)
Heat the peanut oil to medium-high. Once heated, add wrappers carefully. Keep in one layer. Cook 2 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned.
Here's where it gets interesting: add 1/4 cup of water per dozen wrappers right into the pan. Cover. Lower heat to medium and simmer 3 minutes.
Remove to paper towels on a plate.
Make a sauce. Here's what I used:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbl. soy sauce
dash of sesame oil
Mix.
