I'm ashamed to admit...I've only recently come to really appreciate the delicious packets that are pot stickers. Of course, here on the East coast, all the restaurants seem to refer to them as "Peking Ravioli" - a rediculous name if I ever heard one, and likely the reason I never really gave them a chance.

However, having connections and family on the West coast has set me straight. I love these things. Getting good ones out East remains a challenge. The frozen ones from Trader Joes (called Gyoza - which is Japanese) are pretty good, but you know they're frozen.

In the Seattle Post Intelligencer this week, Food editor Hsiao-Ching Chou shares her receipe and techniques for making pot stickers at home. Completely from scratch.

I need to make sure to save this one, because I'm going to try it for sure. She warns though, that the recipe is more of a rough guide rather than a standard:

When making the dough, for example, the ratio of flour to water may not be 2 to 1 as suggested. Since the weather can affect how a dough comes together, you will have to determine whether the mixture is too wet or dry and add flour or water to adjust. The stated cooking time for the dumplings is 7 to 9 minutes. But, it may be more depending on how evenly your stove and pan distribute heat.

Even so, she reminds us that pot stickers are essentially peasant food, something just about anyone should be able to make these. Some other tips I gathered from the article:

• Use fresh pork. It can't be the least bit rancid, or else cooking will intensify the off smell and flavor.
• Use Napa or Chinese cabbage, not regular green cabbage. Hand chopped, not processed.
• Use a vegetable-based oil. Don't use olive oil, as the olive flavor doesn't meld well with the pot stickers.

In addition to the pot sticker recipe, she also provides a recipe for a soy dipping sauce...