Chicken Potstickers

This is a recipe that my friend Laura gave me (I think) :) The printed out paper has the food network logo on it. It says that it is Intermediate difficulty with 4/5 stars user rating. I don't know what that all means exactly, but here is my take on it.

First, the hardest part for me was finding the Thai hot chili paste. I never did find it and it might have made a big difference in how I liked this recipe. I'll keep looking so I can try it again sometime. Second, I didn't think it was hard to make at all, but it took a long time so you have to plan in advance. Third, I thought it had WAY too much peanut butter in it. All we could taste was the PB, maybe the chili paste would have balanced that better. Other than those things, I kind of liked it and am willing to try it again when I find that illusive chili paste.

Ingredients:
* 1 pound ground chicken
* 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced (I used about a tsp of ground ginger)
* 2 tablespoons shallots, minced (I used plain old onion)
* 1 cup chunky peanut butter (next time I'm going to try just half a cup)
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
*2 tablespoons Thai hot chili paste (I added red pepper flakes, but not enough)
* 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped (I use 1 1/2 tsp dried)
* 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
* 30 wonton wrappers

1. In a hot pan, saute ground chicken, garlic, ginger and shallots together until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Drain off the excess fat and mix the chicken together in a bowl with the peanut butter, brown sugar, chili paste, basil and cilantro. Chill the mixture for about an hour, and then wrap in wonton wrappers.
2. Bring the edges into a corner or simply fold into triangles, using a dab of water to "glue" the edges. I think I put too much filling in these. Try about 1 teaspoon in each. It doesn't look like much, but when you fold it over it will be plenty.

3. In a pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil. I don't have a steamer basket, so I rigged one by putting my colander inside my pot and then putting the lid on it. It worked pretty well. I did spray the colander with spray oil to keep the pot-stickers from sticking to the metal.

Steam the pot stickers in the steamer basket for 8 to 10 minutes until the wrappers are translucent. Take them out immediately and separate because they will stick together as they cool.

Here it is with chicken fried rice from Sam's Club. I figured if I was spending so much time on the sides I could get away with a boxed meal. Hey, it happens!