COOKING WITH KIDS: CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE POTSTICKERS

Making potstickers with kids is as much fun as eating them. Kids will love assembling these savory little pouches and learning how to pinch the tops. Here’s a delicious and easy chicken and vegetable potsticker recipe filled with healthy ingredients, next in our Cooking With Kids series!

Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers – Ingredients:
(makes 45 potstickers)

(adapted from Epicurious)

– 2 cups of finely chopped Napa cabbage

– 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (for the cabbage rinsing)

– 1/3 pound ground chicken

– 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

– 1 small carrot, freshly grated (about 2 tablespoons)

– 2 scallions, sliced (reserve green parts for garnishing)

– 2 cloves minced garlic

– 1 tablespoon soy sauce

– 2 teaspoons sesame oil

– 1 egg, beaten

– 45 round gyoza potstickers wrappers (typically found in the Asian food aisle of your supermarket)

Steps:

1. Add the 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the cabbage in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes to draw out the water. Squeeze it dry with your hands or with a cloth and set it out on a plate with the other ingredients. Since my daughter is not old enough to mince finely, I did the prep, but she helped assemble the ingredients.

2. Ask your child to combine the cabbage, carrots, scallions, ginger, garlic and ground chicken in one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Combine the soy sauce mixture with the cabbage/chicken. Mix well and add a dash of salt.

3. On a cutting board or counter lined with parchment paper, ask your child to place one heaping teaspoon of the potsticker mixture on the center of each round gyoza wrappers. Have a small bowl of water and paint brush handy.

4. Have your child paint the top half of each gyoza with the paintbrush dipped in some water. Fold the circle over so you have a semi-circle, pinch and make folds starting from one end to the next. This is not easy at first, but gets easier as you do it. Depending on how old your child is, the pinches, won’t look perfect but that’s okay! It’s just fun for them to get the hang of it. For perfect pinches, I recommend watching this helpful video.

Once the potstickers are folded, it’s time to fry them up a bit on the stovetop.

5. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a medium sized frying pan over med-high heat. Lay the potstickers out on a circular fashion, making sure they aren’t super close together so they can crisp on the bottom. Don’t crowd the pan with too many of them. Fry each side for 2-3 minutes. Add 1/4 cups of water at a time to let them steam up a bit and make sure they don’t burn. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.

These chicken vegetables potstickers are delicious on their own or served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and some sesame seeds. They’re easy for kids to pick up and eat and the whole family loved them!

You can fill the wrappers with pretty much any meat or vegetable filling. They also freeze well and can be pulled out when you need dinner in a pinch. Have you ever tried making homemade potstickers or dumplings?

Take a look here for lots more Cooking With Kids recipes!