How to Make Perfect Potstickers Like a Dumpling Master

Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo, the masterminds behind Fat Rice in Chicago, cook food that reflects their mixed heritage: Portuguese, Irish, Chinese, and American. Their cooking also pays homage to the complex cuisine of Macau, the former Portuguese trading post that is now part of China—a place that completely bewitched Conlon and Lo when they travelled there early in their careers and realised that the food mirrored their unlikely, combined ancestral profile. Conlon told us that at Fat Rice, they try to preserve the oral tradition of food that Macanese grandmas cook and redeem the term "fusion food."

So, who better to teach us the intricate art of making the perfect potsticker than these two chefs? Their Potstickers Royale are worth the trouble of mastering a few techniques—ones that will amp your cooking skills up to a level sure to impress all you deign to feed.

First things first, you'll be making a cornstarch-based crêpe batter and putting it in a convenient squeeze bottle for use later. Just whisk together a few ingredients and you're done with step one.

Then you'll be making the dumpling filling, which consists of combining ingredients in three bowls: one for a green onion and celery mix, the second for a shrimp mixture, and the third for a pork combo.

Next comes the fun part. Using a technique based on the hand position favoured by the Thing in the Addams Family—no, we're not kidding—you will combine ingredients and consequently slay the making of potstickers. Trust us. This works.

Fill your assorted dumpling wrappers using Conlon and Lo's easy-to-follow advice for sealing and folding them. The result will be three dozen perfectly crescent-shaped dumplings.

Finally, the piece de resistance. Place the potstickers, seven at a time, in a pan and brown them lightly. Then, slather the whole thing in the crêpe batter—yup—and continue to cook for a few more minutes. The result will be translucent and utterly glorious Potstickers Royale.

Getting the whole shebang out of the pan can be accomplished using one of two methods: via spatula (boring) or by a chef-worthy flip of the wrist that is sure to convince your friends and family alike that you are a culinary badass.

A simple—but essential—sauce can be whipped up in minutes and you're done. Potstickers worthy of your real or imagined Asian grandmother await.