Guotie (potstickers)
锅贴 / 鍋貼 · guōtiē (pinyin)
Pan-fried dumplings browned on one side, then steamed with a little water under a lid; 'potsticker' is the English form of guotie.
What it means
Guotie (锅贴, guōtiē, literally 'pot stick') are pan-fried dumplings. Wikipedia describes frying on one flat side to build a crisp bottom, then adding water and covering the pan so the top steams through. The Woks of Life describes the same two-stage method for pan-fried dumplings, which it calls potstickers and also writes as 煎饺 (jiānjiǎo).
Wikipedia says guotie differ from pan-fried jiaozi (jianjiao) in being usually elongated, with the two ends often left open in northern China. In the north guotie is a separate category of dumpling, while in the south the word is a synonym for pan-fried jiaozi. Fillings resemble jiaozi fillings: Wikipedia lists pork, cabbage, scallions, ginger, rice wine and sesame oil.
The English word potsticker comes from guotie. Wikipedia says the term 'potstickers' was introduced to the West by Buwei Yang Chao's book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (1949 revised enlarged edition).
A common mix-up
Not every dumpling is a potsticker: the same filling can be boiled, steamed or pan-fried, and only the pan-fried version is guotie or jianjiao.
Questions people ask
Are potstickers and jiaozi the same?
They overlap. Wikipedia says guotie are usually elongated and distinct in the north, while in southern China the word is used for pan-fried jiaozi.
How are potstickers cooked?
They are fried on one side until the bottom is crisp, then water is added and the pan is covered so the tops steam through, per Wikipedia and The Woks of Life.
Sources & further reading
Background and preparation references. Our descriptions are editorial summaries, not restaurant reviews.