Authentic Japanese Gyoza Recipes

AUTHENTIC JAPANESE GYOZA

Steps:

• Shred cabbage and cut nira (green onions) fine.
• Combine cabbage, nira, pork, ground fresh ginger root, garlic and seasonings. Mix well by hand.
• Put 1 tablespoons of mixture on a gyoza wrapper. Wet the edge of wrapper with water using your finger. Pinch edges firmly and crip togther to seal.
• Grease skillet with vegetable oil, arrange gyoza in a single layer in the pan. Cook well over low heat.
• When bottom of goyza become slightly brown, add 1/4 cup of water.
• Cover, cook for a couple minutes.
• Serve with your favorite gyoza sauce.

JAPANESE GYOZA (DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Combine cabbage and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl, then set aside for 20 minutes to allow the cabbage to wilt slightly.
• Place remaining Filling ingredients (including remaining 1/2 tsp salt) in a large bowl. Squeeze out any excess water from the cabbage and add to the bowl.
• Use your hands to mix the Filling.
• Sprinkle a baking tray with 1 tsp of cornstarch / cornflour.
• Place 1 gyoza wrapper on your palm (left hand for right-handed people). Dip your finger in water and run it around the edge of half the gyoza wrapper (to seal).
• Place 1 slightly heaped tbsp of Filling on the wrapper. Fold wrapper over and use your right hand assisted by your left hand thumb to create 4 pleats. Press to seal and place on the tray. Repeat with remaining wrappers. (See video for demo)

GYOZA WRAPPERS RECIPE ( 餃子の皮 )

Steps:

• 01 - Mix the Flour and the salt into a large bowl. 02 - Add the Boiling Water, little by little, using chopsticks to stir, until you can form the mixture into a ball. 03 - Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the Dough resting for 1 hour. 04 - On a floured work surface, knead the Dough for about five minutes, or until it is smooth. 05 - Shape the Dough into a long about 5cm / 1.9in thick log, and cut the log crosswise into 40 slices. 06 - Roll each piece of Dough into a 8cm / 3in disk. Make the outer edge thinner than the center. 07 - Dust each disk with additional flour ( every time you flat one ), and stack them on top of each other. 08 - Wrap the stack tightly in plastic wrap until ready for use.

GYOZA

Steps:

• Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Mix in cabbage, onion, garlic and carrot. Cook and stir until cabbage is limp. Mix in ground pork and egg. Cook until pork is evenly brown and egg is no longer runny.
• Preheat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
• Place approximately 1 tablespoon of the cabbage and pork mixture in the center of each wrapper. Fold wrappers in half over filling, and seal edges with moistened fingers.
• In the preheated vegetable oil, cook gyoza approximately 1 minute per side, until lightly browned. Place water into skillet and reduce heat. Cover and allow gyoza to steam until the water is gone.
• In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and rice vinegar. Use the mixture as a dipping sauce for the finished wrappers.

JAPANESE GYOZA

Steps:

• Chop cabbage, Chinese chives, and spring onion finely and set aside.
• Remove the skin from the ginger and grate finely.
• Using a garlic mincer, mince the garlic and set aside.
• Mix the pork mince, shredded cabbage, spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
• Mix together well until they become well combined and sticky in texture.
• Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the centre of a Gyoza wrapper and fold while pinching the sides together to close the Gyoza. Use your thumbs to fold it and use your right index finger to push mince filling in (see photo or mini video if you are not familiar with this method) .
• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and place the Gyoza in the pan and brown the bottom part of the Gyoza.
• Once the Gyoza is slightly browned on the bottom, pour ¼ cup hot water into the pan to steam fry the Gyoza.
• Put a lid on the pan to steam the Gyoza and turn the heat up to high. Steam cook for about 3 minutes.
• Take the lid off and let the water evaporate. Carefully pour a little bit of sesame seed oil around the Gyoza to make the bottom turn crisp and golden brown.
• Turn off the heat and serve the Gyoza on a plate with the bottom up for best presentation.

JAPANESE SHRIMP GYOZA

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium-sized pot with boiling water, cook the whole cabbage leaves for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Drain well and let the cabbage cool off a little before squeezing out as much of the excess water as possible by pressing the cabbage leaves between your hands and pressing hard.
• Thinly chop the cabbage and place it in a medium-sized bowl. Reserve.
• Finely chop the clean shrimp into a paste-like texture.
• Add the shrimp into the cabbage bowl.
• Add the grated ginger and chopped green onion and mix all ingredients well.
• Add sake, salt, sesame oil, and katakuriko and mix well. You can knead the mixture with your hands too.
• Have at hand a small bowl with water. On a clean work surface, place a gyoza wrapper and add a small spoonful of filling, about 1 heaping teaspoon, in the middle of the wrapper.
• Dip your finger in the water and moisten all around the wrapper edges.
• Fold the wrapper in half to make a semicircle shape.
• Press tightly on the edges to close the gyoza. There shouldn't be any gaps as the filling can ooze out when the gyoza hits the pan.
• Repeat the process until all of the shrimp filling is used.
• In a large skillet over high heat, add enough canola oil to coat the bottom, 1 to 2 tablespoons.
• Place the prepared gyoza in the skillet and fry until the bottoms become brown and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan; if necessary work in batches, adding more oil as needed. Once the bottoms are golden, turn down the heat to low.
• Pour 1/4 cup of water in the skillet and cover. Steam the gyoza on low heat until the water is gone.
• Serve the gyoza with ponzu sauce on the side, the optional karashi, or an optional spicy ponzu with a pinch of shichimi togarashi on top.
• Enjoy!

GYOZA

Steps:

• Put the spring onions, cabbage, ginger and garlic in a food processor, and whizz to a fine mix (or finely chop by hand).
• Add the water chestnuts and pulse to chop, but not too finely - these will add a nice crunchy texture. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sake, sesame oil and a pinch of salt, and whizz again.
• Tip the ingredients into a bowl and add the minced pork or chicken. Mix by hand until well combined. Chill until ready to use.
• Have a pot of water to hand. Sprinkle the cornflour onto a plate. To assemble the gyoza, hold the dumpling skin in the palm of one hand and put a heaped teaspoon of the filling onto the centre of the skin.
• Dip your finger in the water and wipe around the edge of the skin - this will moisten it and help the edges stick together.
• Bring the edges of the skin together. Pinch pleats along one side, then press each pleat against the opposite flat side of the skin. With each pinch make sure that you are sealing the parcel and keeping the filling in the centre. Put each gyoza onto the plate dusted with cornflour. Can be covered with cling film and chilled for up to 8 hrs.
• Cook the gyoza in batches. Heat a non-stick frying pan with 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Brush off any excess cornflour from the bases of the dumplings. Fry the gyoza on one side only - don't turn them over, you just want one crispy side. They should be golden brown after about 2 mins.
• Add a good splash of water to the pan and cover with a steaming lid or a large sheet of foil with a few holes poked in the top. Cook over a medium heat for 3-5 mins until the water has evaporated and the gyoza filling is cooked through. Set aside while you cook the rest.
• Mix all the dipping sauce ingredients and serve alongside the dumplings in dipping bowls. You can serve with both or just one dipping sauce.