Brussels Sprouts, Shiitake Mushroom and Bacon Pot Stickers

Chris recently stated that we should start our meatless Mondays again.  Did I hear correctly?  He had read about the “Impossible Burger”, a revolutionary meatless burger, and had become obsessed with trying it.  Okay, revolutionary is my word, but it is pretty amazing.  The Impossible Burger is currently only available in restaurants and after trying it, Chris decided he could go meatless Mondays if it tasted like that.  What does this have to do with these pot stickers?  Now that I’m writing this, the answer seems like, nothing, because somehow bacon made it into the mix, thereby making it meated. I did start with good intentions of using brussels sprouts and mushrooms as the filling rather than the usual ground pork. But then what’s with the bacon?  Well, I do enjoy a good roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta or bacon, so it seemed like a good idea.  

Makes about 50 pot stickers:

For the filling:
1 lb Brussels Sprouts cut in half and thinly sliced, discard the stems
½ lb Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced and depending how large they are, cut in half
4 oz bacon or pancetta, finely diced (use a bacon that is not too smoky)
2 Shallots, minced
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper and white pepper
3 Green onions, finely sliced
1 Egg, beaten
Pot Sticker / Gyoza Shells

For the sauce:
Soy sauce (I use Yamasa brand)
Vinegar - I used a mix of white vinegar and rice vinegar
Sugar
Finely minced ginger
Chili oil
I didn’t provide any measurements as I always make it fresh and never measure.  I would say it’s about 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part vinegar, 1 part sugar and just a bit of ginger and chili oil.  But you should experiment and taste to see what you like.

To make the filling:
Sauté the bacon or pancetta until crispy.  Add a little oil to the pan if your bacon is lean, like mine was. Then add the shallots and ginger and sauté until softened.  Add the brussels sprouts  and the maple syrup and turn heat to high and sauté until the sprouts are softened and then add the mushrooms, salt and peppers.  Continue to sauté until the sprouts are starting to carmalize and the mushrooms are softened.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temp.  Add the egg and green onions and mix well.

To wrap the pot stickers, I used store purchased pre-made shells.  I purchased two different brands to compare and decided on the “Dynasty” brand as they were slightly thinner.  Normally, with a meat filling, I would choose a thicker shell, but for a more delicate filling, I chose to go with a thinner shell.  It’s really up to you on whatever your preference is.

Get a little bowl of water and a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  
Take a shell, dip your finger into the water and put a rim of water around the edge of the shell.
Place a small spoonful of filling in the middle.  If you’re like me, I like to try and squeeze as much filling as possible into the shell.  Sometimes not a great tact, but I can’t help myself.
Fold the shell over and pinch the top middle together.  
Then crease and fold a little bit of the back side of each side of the shell and pinch it so you have a little half moon shape.  
You can probably Google how to wrap a pot sticker and get a video tutorial.  It’ll be much easier than trying to figure it out based on my description.
The filling is a little difficult to handle as it does not stick together like a ground pork filling.  So, it’s not as fast moving on the wrapping side.  

To cook, heat a heavy skillet or non-stick pan over medium to medium-high heat.  Add a little oil and place the pot stickers on top.  Add water to the pan until it covers about ⅓ of the pot sticker. If you are cooking them from a frozen state, add just a  little more water.  The filling is cooked, so you really just need to cook the shell and heat the filling. Cover the pan with a lid.

Once water is evaporated, you’ll start to hear the pan sizzle.  Remove the lid and let the pot stickers fry until they are nicely browned.  Serve with dipping sauce.  They were quite delicious and I’d say, you could easily skip the bacon.  In fact, next time I will and really make it meatless.

This made a batch of 50 pot stickers.  I always choose to make a bunch and freeze them because if I'm going to go to the work of making the filling, it's not that much more work to wrap a large batch. They freeze really well and I love it when I can just pull out a few and cook them whenever a craving or need arises.