Crispy Lace Frozen Dumplings (Skillet Potstickers with a Golden Skirt)
A bag of frozen pork potstickers browned in a nonstick skillet, steamed under a thin flour-and-water slurry that fries into one lacy golden skirt, flipped onto a plate and served with soy sauce, sesame oil and chile flakes, in 25 minutes.
Frozen potstickers are one of the most American ways to eat a dumpling: a bag from the freezer, a hot pan and dinner in 20 minutes. This trick turns them into something that looks like a restaurant plate. TASTE, the food magazine, explains that the "crispy skirt" is just the usual pan-fry-and-steam method with the plain water swapped for a slightly thickened mix of flour and hot water. When the water steams off, the flour left behind fries into a thin, lacy sheet that joins all the dumplings together.
TASTE says Japanese izakayas list these as hanetsuki gyoza, "gyoza with wings," and Chinese dumpling shops call them binghua jianjiao, "ice-flower fried dumplings"; Wikipedia gives the same "frost" or "ice crystal" name for the skirt on pan-fried jiaozi. It is the Japanese gyoza and the Chinese jiaozi of this hub, made from the freezer aisle.
Why it works the kitchen science
A thin starch layer
The small amount of flour in the steaming water stays behind as the water boils off, then fries in the oil into a crackly lace that browns at the edges first.
Nonstick is the whole trick
TASTE calls a good nonstick pan absolutely necessary, because the skirt only flips out in one piece if nothing sticks.
Step by step
- Step 1
Stir 1 tbsp flour into each 1/2 cup hot water in two cups until no lumps remain. Stir together the dipping sauce.
- Step 2
Heat 1 tbsp oil in each of two 10-inch nonstick skillets over medium heat (or cook in two batches). Arrange 14 frozen dumplings flat side down in each, slightly apart.
- Step 3
Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottoms start to turn golden.
- Step 4
Stir a slurry again and pour it around the dumplings in a thin, even layer, then cover at once. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes.
- Step 5
Uncover and keep cooking 3 to 5 minutes, until the water is gone and the lacy skirt is golden brown and crisp, and the center of one dumpling reads 165°F.
- Step 6
Loosen the skirt with a spatula, put a plate upside down over the pan and flip it so the skirt is on top. Drizzle each skirt with 1 tsp sesame oil and serve with the dipping sauce.
Crispy Lace Frozen Dumplings (Skillet Potstickers with a Golden Skirt)
Serves 4 · two 10-inch skillets (about 28 dumplings) · 25 min total
- 28 frozen pork and vegetable potstickers or gyoza (about 1 1/2 lb)
- 2 tbsp neutral oil (1 per pan)
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (1 per pan)
- 1 cup hot water (1/2 per pan)
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil, for the skirts
Dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp red chile flakes
Method
- Stir 1 tbsp flour into each 1/2 cup hot water in two cups until no lumps remain. Stir together the dipping sauce.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in each of two 10-inch nonstick skillets over medium heat (or cook in two batches). Arrange 14 frozen dumplings flat side down in each, slightly apart.
- Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottoms start to turn golden.
- Stir a slurry again and pour it around the dumplings in a thin, even layer, then cover at once. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes.
- Uncover and keep cooking 3 to 5 minutes, until the water is gone and the lacy skirt is golden brown and crisp, and the center of one dumpling reads 165°F.
- Loosen the skirt with a spatula, put a plate upside down over the pan and flip it so the skirt is on top. Drizzle each skirt with 1 tsp sesame oil and serve with the dipping sauce.
Adapted from Tatiana Bautista's article on crispy-skirt dumplings for TASTE (October 31, 2019). We follow its method: a good nonstick pan, about 2 minutes of browning, a slurry of 2 teaspoons flour per 1/3 cup hot water poured over and covered 5 minutes over medium heat, then uncovered until the water is gone; flipped out skirt side up, drizzled with sesame oil and served with soy sauce, sesame oil and chile flakes. TASTE gives no dumpling count, oil amount or sauce amounts; those, the 1/2 cup slurry per pan (TASTE's ratio, scaled), the extra minute of browning for frozen dumplings and the 165°F check are ours. tastecooking.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- TASTE says all-purpose flour gives a harder crunch, while cornstarch, potato starch or rice flour give a lighter, more delicate lace.
- If condensation pools on the lid, tip it back into the pan rather than onto the stove.
- Swirl the pan when you add the slurry so it reaches the edges; that's where the lace forms first.
- Works with any frozen potsticker, gyoza or mandu that is pan-fried from frozen.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The skirt is a Japanese invention. Disputed: TASTE gives both the Japanese name (hanetsuki gyoza) and the Chinese one (binghua jianjiao); Wikipedia describes the "ice crystal" skirt on Chinese pan-fried jiaozi.
- Flour or cornstarch for the slurry. Folklore: TASTE says both work and differ only in crunch.
- Frozen dumplings must be thawed first. Folklore: they cook from frozen; Just One Cookbook adds 1 to 2 minutes of steaming for frozen gyoza.
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