Reply to Can olive oil be considered "cooking oil?"

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[quote=Anonymous]Cooking oil is typically corn, vegetable, canola or similar type oil.  As someone mentioned, it has a higher smoking point (e.g. can be heated higher without smoking up).  You should really only use olive oil for pan frying something in a non-stick pan because you can't heat it as high.  When cooking dumplings there are a few tips to help.  First, heat your oil hot before you put anything into the pan.  Take a drop of water on your fingertip and shake it into the oil.  Do not put the potstickers in the pan until that water drop boils and crackles in the water, e.g. the oil is over 200 deg.  Keep the dumplings cold and frozen until you are ready to put them in the pan, even a few minutes thawing on the counter will make it harder.  What happens is as they thaw, the ice on the outside melts slightly, and that little bit of moisture will get into the dough of the wrapper and make it gummier or stickier.  If you put them very cold into the pan, any ice that melts will not be absorbed by the dough, but will boil off in the oil (that's the big crackling you hear when you first put them into the oil).  Also cover the pan immediately after putting them in as that will contain the heat and you'll lose less heat.  Let them sit untouched (do not move them or "check the bottoms") for the first 3+ minutes.  What you are doing is searing a quick crust on the bottom.  Once that crust sets, they will not stick nearly as much to the pan.  Let them sit until you have a golden crust on the bottom of all of them.  When you have the crust, add water to the pan until you have about 1/8" - 1/4" layer of water in the bottom of the pan.  Cover immediately or you'll have hot oil spattering when the water hits the oil.  I put the cover over the pan tiled up about 45 degrees, pour the water in and immediately drop the lid onto the pan.  You also want to cover immediately to capture the steam.  What you are doing now is steaming the tops of the dumplings.  Let sit for 6-8 minutes without removing the cover depending on the heat of your stove.  I would turn it down to medium-high heat when you add the water.  You need enough to keep the water boiling and steaming the top but it doesn't have to be a fast boil.  When the water is mostly boiled off, you can plate and serve the dumplings.  If you got a good sear on the bottom, they won't stick very much.

My mother taught Chinese cooking for many years and taught me how to do this.  It sounds complicated, but it's really very easy once you get used to it.  Good luck.[/quote]

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