I’m going to be making a lot of potstickers for a party in January. I’ve always made my own wrappers, but it would save significant effort to use wrappers from the market. What do you think?
I think I’d buy a package and do a small test run. See what you think.
I’m sure they are better if you make your own, but I always buy them & the market ones seem fine to me
If it’s a potsticker/dumpling making party, make your own wrappers as part of the festivities.
If you’re pre-making the dumplings buy them from a store.
The homemade wrappers are much better, but it’s a quantum leap in work and cleanup when you’re making a few hundred potstickers.
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I don’t make potstickers, but for other dumplings I always buy the skin. In all dumplings I’ve had, the only real poor experience with skins is when they are too thick. The store bought skins always seem thin enough.
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Whereas when I make the wrappers, I tend to get them too thin. But I just redo.
I use and like both depending on the occasion. They are just different animals in my mind. It seems to me that most people (at least in my life) are used to the store bought ones and do not necessarily appreciate homemade ones and might even find them inferior. I much prefer homemade ones but have learned to save the homemade ones for people who I know will enjoy them. Mostly that means my husband. Depending on the filling, I find that dumplings freeze and cook up from frozen nicely which is what I would consider doing for a crowd.
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I would use store bought but with one caveat - that you are able to find ones that use actual “egg” as an ingredient - which are actually harder to find than you’d think. Don’t be fooled by the ones that just look yellow . . . .
I find that most store bought ones these days are all starch and water, no egg. They don’t hold up as well and they don’t taste right to me. There are some that use actual egg as an ingredient, these taste better and absolutely hold up better when cooked and keep the right texture. The all starch ones get mushy very quickly.
I used Andrea Nguyen’s Asian Dumpling cookbook and the dough is nothing but flour and hot water. And they’re perfect. Spot checked a couple of other recipes and it was the same. No mention of egg.
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Agreed, I use her book as well (and recommend it). But the commercial wrappers are different from home made. I find the commercial wrappers with egg are far superior to the all starch versions.
Thanks and good to know.
Maybe what I’ll do is buy a starchy version and an eggy one for my test. The ones I make at home are just flour and boiling water. The only failure I’ve had was when I carelessly left them too thick. But yes, I agree that if I’m making them in large quantity using a good quality purchased wrapper is probably the way to go. Thanks for all the input!
I’m going to do a classic pork and cabbage and then probably a shrimp. (most of the folks in my circle who lean toward vegetarian eat seafood) Does anyone have any alternate fillings I should consider? This is going to be part of a varied menu for an open house.
The home made ones are the best - and if anyone reading this has never made them, there is something magical that happens with boiling water and flour, I recommend trying it once.
Chime back with your experiences! Curious how your taste test goes.
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I don’ t even make potstickers, let alone the wrappers. But, I do live very close to several large Asian supermarkets, so that probably has a big influence.
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Agree. Hand made wrappers are BEST.
Flour + warm water, knead and let rest.
Shape dough into rope, cut pieces, roll circles; fill and pleat.
The wraps taste better and are easier to stuff and pleat. Tender and silky delicious potstickers.
This same dough works for green onion pancakes if you add salt, chopped green onions, and sesame oil.
I use a tortilla press (gently or they get too thin) and it’s works super.
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This just seemed like a relevant post from one of my go-to blogs for this type of thing. I need to make more dumplings. . . . .
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I took her Asian dumpling class a couple of years ago. She was VERY clear about not worrying about their looks. The taste will be the same. As usual, she was right 
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I have no idea why I never thought to use my tortilla press. That sounds faster than rolling them out individually like I do. I know some people who roll out the whole thing and cut them out like cookies but I hate waste the dough that way which I guess is sort of silly since we are only talking flour and water.
Her video is spot-on. I don’t press too hard or they get too thin. But if one is, just reroll it. Easy peasy.
