Cooking for Life

Potstickers before they were cooked.

Sauteing shiitake mushrooms.

The peanut sesame noodles taste good with tofu.

For this Cooking for Life class, we were taught how to make vegetable potstickers and peanut sesame noodles. I personally enjoyed this class because I learned more about my Asian culture.
First of all, you need 3/4 pounds of dried soba noodles. Cook the noodles in a boiling pot of salted water until tender.

The ingredients for the peanut dressing to accompany the noodles were:

• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 2/3 cups of warm water
• 2 tablespoons of chopped peeled ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup of rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of Asian toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of honey

Blend all of those ingredients in a blender for two minutes. You can also add these with the dressing and noodles:

• 8 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
• 2 yellow bell peppers, cut the same way
• 1 cucumber, sliced into strips
• 2 cups of tofu, cubed
• 6 tablespoons of sesame seeds to garnish

As for the vegetable potstickers, you'll need:

• 6-8 cups of chopped asparagus and shiitake mushrooms
  
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups of thinly sliced scallions
• 2 tablespoons of minced ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of water for binding the wrapping
• Wonton wrappers

To assemble the potstickers, first drizzle oil over a pan and saute the scallions, ginger, and garlic. Then in two separate pans, saute the mushrooms and asparagus. Cook until tender. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and take out wonton wrappers. Place about a spoonful of filling onto a wrapper. After that, bind the wonton wrapper with water. Last but not least, cook the potstickers in a large pan with oil for 2 to 3 minutes.