When it comes to using leftovers, I love a recipe with a twist. Today's pot stickers have that going for them. They're fun and tasty little packages of pot stickers (dumplings) stuffed with leftover turkey and vegetables. To top it off, the pot stickers are served with a sweet and spicy Asian dipping sauce. Most Asian-style dipping sauces get their sweetness from sweet chile sauce or granulated sugar. Their spicy kick comes from sriracha or sambal oelek (ground fresh chili paste).
With these pot stickers, you can pair the turkey with any vegetable. I used ginger, carrots and green onions. The key is making sure the mixture is finely minced. It's held together by oyster sauce (you can use hoisin if you like) and an egg white. Once filled and shaped, the pot stickers are fried in a small amount of oil so the bottoms become crispy and browned. When the bottoms are brown, you add broth or water to the skillet, cover and steam them. These cook rather quickly, but do require a bit of time to fill and shape.
For today's recipe I used the small wonton squares, which are about 2 inches by 2 inches. You can also use the round wrappers. Both hold no more than 2 teaspoons filling. Once you put the dollop of filling on the wonton, there are several ways to shape them.
For a triangle, brush the edges with a little water and fold it over the filling from one opposite point to another. Pinch and seal the edges tightly. To make them into a different shape, just pull the two corners of the triangle down so one overlaps the other, pinch and seal with water. To make them so they look like little pouches, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center. Brush the edges with water and bring up to encase the filling and twist. With any of these shapes, be sure they are sealed, otherwise they will pop open when you fry and then steam them.
My preference is the pouch shape because they are easy to eat on their own or you can add them to a steamy broth. These work great as an appetizer or served with additional stir-fried vegetables along with the dipping sauce.
The sauce gets its saltiness from fish sauce. It's a common condiment in many southeast Asian cuisines. Nam pla (nahm-PLAH) is Thai fish sauce and nuoc mam (noo-AHK NAHM) is Vietnamese fish sauce. You can use them interchangeably.
Fish sauce is made from fermented anchovies or other fish. Take a whiff and you'll notice its very pungent odor. But that odor dissipates once it's cooked or blended with other ingredients. Fish sauce has a dark color that resembles soy sauce, but its consistency is thinner. Because of its saltiness, a little fish sauce goes a long way. You'll find several brands in the ethnic aisle of most grocery stores. Prices vary, but one of the most notable and higher end fish sauces is Red Boat.
