Pork and mushroom pot stickers

SERVES 4 AS A STARTER

FILLING

250 g (9 oz) minced (ground) pork

50 g (1¾ oz/1 cup) thinly sliced Chinese cabbage (wong bok)

80 g (2¾ oz/½ cup) water chestnuts, rinsed, drained and chopped

100 g (3½ oz) mixed mushrooms (use a mix of black fungus, chestnut mushroom, shimeji and enoki), finely chopped

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons hoisin sauce

¼ teaspoon ground long pepper (see note)

¼ teaspoon ground mountain pepperleaf (see note)

¼ teaspoon salt

16 square won ton wrappers (the yellow ones made with egg)

vegetable or peanut oil, for frying soy sauce and hot chilli sauce, to serve

For the filling: mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Lay out a won ton wrapper and place a teaspoon of the filling along the middle on the diagonal, that is from one corner to the opposite. Have a small bowl of water nearby, then dab your finger in the water and moisten the four sides of the wrapper. Take opposite corners of the wrapper and stick them together, then lift the whole won ton by the stuck-together corner and, using your other hand, press the remaining openings closed. Put the pot sticker down, making sure to press it gently on the work surface so that it sits on a flat bottom with the top corner pointing up to the sky. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Cook the pot stickers in batches by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok (that has a tight-fitting lid). (Do not use too much oil to fry or the pot stickers will be too oily after they have steamed.) Place the pot stickers in the pan, flat bottom down, and fry for 2–3 minutes until golden brown. Pour in 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup boiling water and then cover with a lid and cook until all the water has evaporated, approximately 6–8 minutes. This finishes off the cooking of the pot stickers by boiling and steaming them.

Fry and boil in batches of 8 and keep the first batch warm whilst you cook the second batch.

Remove from the pan and put on a plate. Serve with a small side bowl of soy sauce and one of hot chilli sauce.

Long pepper is an Indonesian pepper — the aroma is sweet, fragrant and musk-like and the flavour is similarly musky and peppery. Ground mountain pepperleaf has warm peppery notes combined with a delicate, eucalypt-like flavour.