Hey there boys and girls, in the blog post to follow is the recipe you didn’t even know you were waiting for – the delectable and super easy potsticker soup! It used to be a staple in our house when we both worked full time and our daughter was a toddler, but it fell off the repertoire list a few years ago when some health issues arose and we were warned off Asian style soups as being too salty. We revisited it again this week and I am so glad we did. If we budget our salt, we can have it about as often as we now have Chinese takeout – every month or so. Having gone without it for a few years, I am very ready to welcome it back into my life again!

At some point when the soup was a regular in our dinner lineup, my husband thought to add a component – bite sized pieces of leftover steak. Steak is also something that we don’t eat as often these days,  and we’ve also made something of a concerted effort to get used to reducing the portion size and eat a half a steak. Now a 6-8 oz. portion feels like plenty and a 16-20 ouncer feels like gluttony. My sis has joined us in this. We know it’s healthier and it also gave rise to half steaks sometimes being left on the platter at the end of a festive extended family dinner. Growing up, there was never leftover steak to deal with and roast beef either became sandwiches or was served again the way it had been served originally. We didn’t have a common next-night-steak recipe to speak of. So, out of the build-it-and-they-will-come mentality, arose the development of this soup and the leftover steak fajita dinner, which I describe how to make here (in the comments section of my post Comfort Food Week). About 4 – 6 ounces of leftover steak, in either dish, will be enough to satisfy 3 adults who don’t depend on massive meat portions. It can also be a great first course for that home cooked Chinese banquet you’ve been planning to put on as a meal for company.

I should also mention that it was Chris who was the maestro of this soup and when he made it this week I paid close attention and took a few pictures. It’s easy when you know how, as the saying goes, and I now know that I could put this together and list it as one of our ‘easy prep’ dishes. Let me know if you agree that combining beef stock and chicken stock is a winning combo. And in my humble opinion, having that broth flow into the potsticker filling is just lusciously tasty and a great way to enjoy them.

Potsticker Soup

Store bought frozen chicken and vegetable potstickers. (Trader Joes or Ling Ling ) Leftover steak, trimmed of fat and cut into bite sized pieces
Sesame oil (The sesame oil basically flavors the regular oil.)
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
2-3 tbsp. lower sodium soy sauce, or more to taste
one bunch green onions sliced thin (white part only)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

In a medium saucepan, sauté the leftover beef in vegetable and sesame oil, along with the green onion and garlic, until browned. Add beef stock, chicken stock, and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Add to the soup about 5-6 potstickers, still frozen, per person being served. Bring back to a simmer and cook through until the potstickers are cooked and ready, about 5-6 minutes. [Chef’s note: I also used to put some of the green parts of the onions and a drop of sesame oil into the bowl before serving the soup.]  Serve immediately.