Quick Fridge Chicken Dumplings

Last Friday a few of my friends and I got together at our friend Jane's house to make homemade chicken dumplings. Jane was kind enough to share her "sort of recipe", which fundamentally involves throwing whatever you have in the fridge into the filling mixture. No exact measurements required; my kinda recipe. We created the following.
"Rough" Ingredients: feel free to add/omit an ingredient without a asterisk
Filling:
 Ground chicken (we used Foster Farms brand) *

one block of firm tofu ( we used Azumaya brand) *

chopped Scallions

Minced ginger

chopped onions

minced garlic

Necessary Sauces for both filling and dipping: 

Soy Sauce*

Siracha sauce (red spicy chili sauce) 

Ponzu sauce (Japanese dumpling sauce) optional

white vinegar

sesame oil

Round or Square wonton wrappers (sold at Asian markets or specialty stores)

Directions:

 1. Put all of the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon or clean hands until it forms a uniform mixture ( I know, it sounds gross but it turns out really good!!!)






 2. Add a generous amount of soy sauce, a splash of siracha (or more if you want them spicy) and a splash of sesame oil. Mix well.

Easiest Folding Method

3.  Have a small bowl of water nearby your dumpling folding station. Dip a finger into the water and outline the edge of a wrapper with the water. 

4. Place a very small dollop of the filling mixture  (a little less than a tablespoon) into the center of the dumpling. You can keep adding a little bit more at a time if its too small, but you don't want the filling to ooze out of the wrapper when you fold it.

5. Fold the wrapper in half and seal the edges with water. Make sure that they are completely sealed or else the filling could seep out when they are boiling.

* For round wrappers, follow the same instructions:  wet the edges, put a little filling in the center, then fold over. They'll look like half moons; so pretty.

* Like in these photos, you too can experiment with other fancy folds, like the five-point star fold (fold edges 5x at the top to look like a star) or the traditional potsticker fold (use your thumb and index finger to pinch the edges of a square folded wrapper). Or try making them look like tortellini by pinching the ends of a half-moon together.

A good video tutorial (FYI: Gyoza are Japanese potstickers)
Here's a clearer image of different styles of folds

 Cooking Methods (if you don't freeze them):

Boil (our method for the night): Place about a third of your dumplings (with one pkg of chicken and tofu we made these TWO plates of dumplings) in gently boiling water for about  four minutes. They should rise to the surface of the water for about twenty-seconds before they are ready.

Steam:  Place potstickers in a steamer for about five-six minutes or until tender. 

Fry: Pan-fry in a large heated pan  with two-four tablespoons peanut oil (better for high heat). Place potstickers in hot oil and sear for one to two minutes until golden brown. Splash a little water in the pan and quickly cover with a lid for another minute.
* If you make as many as we did, you will need to follow these steps several times to cook all of the dumplings!

To Make a Yummy Sauce for Your Cooked Dumplings!

-Mix soy sauce, white vinegar and a dash of both siracha and sesame oil in a small bowl. Adjust amounts of any sauce to your liking. You can even add spicy mustard like they do @ PF Changs!
ENJOY!