Year of the Ox

I'm currently working in a research lab with 4 lab members from China (and one from India and the other from TX)--so Chinese New Year was not a forgotten holiday. (My class on Jan 26th (their new year) was even moved to the following day.) This year is the Year of the Ox...which just happens to be the year I was born in. According to wikipedia, an ox person can be: "Dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding." Justin is a rat. Rats are "Forthright, disciplined, systematic, meticulous, charismatic, hardworking, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable,..." and it goes on, but I don't think he fits the negative qualities. Luckily, one of the best marriage partners for a Rat is an Ox.

Anyway, I made pork potstickers to celebrate the new year. I thought they were delicious and tasted like the Chinese restaurant we go to in Vegas.

4 cups finely chopped napa cabbage
1 tbsp salt
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 tbsp freshly minced ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp seasame oil
3 green onions finely chopped (all of it)
potsticker wrappers
water
oil

1. Sprinkle the cabbage with the salt and let sit for 30 min. Mix the pork through the onions.
2. Rinse the cabbage to remove the salt and squeeze out all water with cheesecloth (paper towel works well)
3. Mix the cabbage the meat together and fill/seal the edges of the wrappers.
4. Put 3 tbsp oil in a skillet on med heat, add the potstickers until the bottoms are brown, then add 1/2 c water and cover the pot to steam the potstickers until the center is cooked. Once the water has been absorbed by the potstickers, let the bottoms get crispy again.