…if what they want is GOOD food.

I saved this unabashedley Chinese-American dish for the final post in my week of Chinese take-out meals at home because, well . . . it’s pretty damn sweet, like sweet enough to be a dessert. But don’t fear, the savory addition of prawns, mayonnaise and a nice sprinkling of salt make it worthy of your dinner plate.

It only dawned on me when I was making it that this particular dish may not be everyone’s favorite — certainly not in the same way chow mein tends to be. The inclusion of sweetened condensed milk and mayo might sound a bit off-putting, but if you’ve ever enjoyed fried calamari or shrimp dipped in a pleasantly sweet, thick sauce, then you’ll understand the appeal. When the crispy prawns and crunchy walnuts are tossed in the sweet, creamy sauce it creates a succulent combination of textures and flavors – a perfect compliment to salty pot stickers and broccoli beef.

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I absolutely loved eating pot stickers growing up.  In fact, no night of Chinese take-out was complete without them in my house.  And what’s not to like about them?  Crispy on one side, tender on the other and bursting with a flavorful, juicy pork and shrimp filling.  Yup, give me a bowl of soy or some sweet and sour dipping sauce and I was good.  Then…I went away to college and simply lost all interest in these delicious dumplings.

You see, there is a brand of frozen pot stickers on the market that seems to be stocked in every grocery store on the planet. It’s highly likey that you might have eaten them yourself at one point in time.  And why wouldn’t you have?  They aren’t half bad when you prepare them correctly.  But it was the constant consumption of these store-bought wonders by my roommates that really put me off them for a while.  Do you know what it’s like to come home from a long day of classes to a house steamed up with the funky stench of industrialized cabbage wontons?  Not good! Sure they were good the first couple of times, but after a while it’s just not the same as the genuine, handmade article.

So, smack-dab in the heart of Chinese New Year, I present to you a killer recipe from this month’s Fine Cooking Magazine for authentic, pork and shrimp jiao zi.  Simple enough to assemble and sheer gold sitting in your freezer, this recipe has single-handedly renewed my interest in these classic Chinese dumplings.  Loaded with a myriad of traditional Chinese ingredients like ginger, rice wine, napa cabbage, scallions and sesame oil, these pot stickers are leagues above your average supermarket variety and far better than the restaurant versions I’ve had in recent years. Serve them with the accompanying recipe for scallion-soy dipping sauce and you have a knockout appetizer.

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Before I even knew what dim sum was, I was a fan of the pork bun.  Each week, after visiting clients near Clement Street in San Francisco, my Dad would arrive home with a bright pink box, packed tightly with a half a dozen of these delicious stuffed buns.  Salty, sweet and intensely savory, these hand-held delights quickly became a favorite snack of mine growing up; pop one in the microwave for about a minute, and I was ready to go.

These days, I treat pork buns with a bit more reverence, carefully wrapping them in foil before placing them in a warm toaster-oven so as not to disturb their delicate, fluffy texture.  As with most of the food I love, I’m a bit fanatical when it comes to finding the best specimen available, and living in the Bay Area, there are plenty of options to choose from.  That being said, there is something especially gratifying about baking and eating your own.  The best part? Using all-natural pork and skipping the red dye #40.

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