Beef Pot Stickers

ingredients

• dough:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup boiling-hot water
• filling:
• 1/4 pound ground beef chuck (1/2 cup)
• 4 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Chinese sweet bean paste
• 2 cups finely chopped yellow or green garlic chives (3/4 cup)
• panfrying:
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1/3 cup warm water

directions

Make dough:

Put 1 3/4 cups flour in a large bowl, then add boiling-hot water, stirring with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. When just cool enough to handle, turn out dough (including any loose flour) onto a work surface and knead, incorporating some of remaining 1/4 cup flour if dough is sticky, until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 10 to 30 minutes.

Make filling while dough stands:

Stir together beef, soy sauce, oils, ginger, and bean paste in a medium bowl, then stir in chives.

Form and fry dumplings:

Form dough into a log (24 inches long and about 1 inch wide), then cut dough crosswise into 24 (1 inch-wide) pieces. Put 6 pieces, cut sides down, on a lightly floured surface (keep remaining pieces loosely covered with plastic wrap) and flatten slightly with your hand. Roll out each flattened piece into a 3.25 inch round with lightly floured rolling pin. Put a level tablespoon of filling in center of each round, then brush or double boiler halfway around edge with a little water and fold in half, pressing edges together to seal and leaving a small opening at each end of semicircle. Stand each dumpling, sealed edge up, on a wax-paper-lined tray, then press dumplings slightly onto 1 side so more of dumpling touches tray. Make more dumplings in same manner.

Heat oil in a 12 inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot, then remove from heat and arrange dumplings in a tight circular pattern standing up in oil (they should touch 1 another). Cook, uncovered, over moderate heat until oil sizzles, then drizzle warm water (1/3 cup) over pot stickers and cook, covered, until bottoms are browned, 9 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons more water if skillet looks dry before bottoms are browned.

Remove lid and cook, shaking skillet to loosen pot stickers, until steam dissipates, 2 minutes. Invert a large plate with a rim over skillet. Using pot holders, hold plate and skillet together and invert skillet. Remove skillet and serve pot stickers warm.

note:

Dumplings can be formed 4 hours ahead. Chill in one layer, not touching, on wax-paper-lined tray, loosely but completely covered with plastic wrap.