Beef Potstickers 牛肉锅贴

How it is made

The Nanjing local-chronicles office describes the method: the dumplings go into a flat-bottomed pan, a slurry (jiangshui, 浆水) is poured in, and they are half fried, half steamed until the liquid has almost gone; then oil is sprinkled over and they are fried on until the bottoms turn golden.

Jiang Yuyou (蒋玉友), who carried on the Jiang Youji (蒋有记) potsticker craft as its heritage bearer, drew a firm line between pan-fried and deep-fried potstickers. A pan-fried one, he said, has a crisp base, a flaky skin and a filling that holds together with its juices, and is soft enough for old people and children, while deep-fried ones are hard on the teeth.

Flavour and texture

A Nanjing potsticker is soft and fragrant on top and crisp underneath, with a firm filling that is salty with a touch of sweetness. In the early twentieth century a man known as Jin Baba (金巴巴) opened Jinyuxing (金钰兴) at the eastern end of Neiqiaowan (内桥湾), selling only beef potstickers. His were shorter and more fully filled than others, six to a serving instead of five, and fried so that one pan held both crisper and softer ones: customers asked for theirs firm or soft, and they came to the table upside down so the crisp bases could be counted and stayed crisp.

Where it comes from

Signs for Qijiawan (七家湾) beef potstickers are everywhere in Nanjing, but the chronicles office says older residents talk most about Jiang Youji, opened by Jiang Youcai (蒋有才) in 1922 and moved twenty years later to Gongyuan West Street (贡院西街) in the Fuzimiao (夫子庙) area. The book Jinling Yeshi (金陵野史) credits Jiang Youji's beef potstickers of the Republican era with ten qualities, from fresh beef and well-cut filling to good frying and good juices. In September 1987 the Nanjing Qinhuai snack research society (南京秦淮小吃研究会) ranked beef soup and beef potstickers second among the Eight Qinhuai Delicacies (秦淮八绝).