Gyoza Dumplings

Serves 4
40 minutes

Rated by 114 people

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Make perfect pan-fried gyoza with this easy-to-follow gyoza recipe. Gyoza is the Japanese name for the half moon-shaped dumplings served in Asian restaurants as an appetiser or side dish, and this recipe will show you how to make them with a wonderfully flavoursome pork and vegetable filling. Serve these bite-size flavour sensations with a little soy sauce alongside a main meal.

Ingredients

200g cabbage
2 garlic cloves
1 spring onion
2cm ginger (optional)
30 gyoza skins
150g minced pork meat
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce

dipping sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp la-yu chilli oil

How To Prepare

Begin by boiling a few cabbage leaves in water until they are soft, then drain them well and slice up into small pieces. Finely slice the garlic, the spring onions and the ginger.
Add your sliced vegetables and the minced pork meat to a bowl, then mix well with the sesame oil and the soy sauce. Try to use an equal amount of pork as your combined vegetables. Put to one side for a short while to marinate and allow the flavours to infuse.
Now we can start making the actual gyoza. With a gyoza skin in the palm of one hand, spoon a small amount of the mix into the centre of the skin. No need to overfill here, simply add an amount approximate to a teaspoon's worth. Dip your finger in some water and moisten the edge of the skin to make it easy to seal.
Fold the filled gyoza skin in half and pinch at the top to seal it. Now start folding over the skin on the side facing you and pleating it together to achieve an effect like a folding fan when it is open. The goal is to achieve a sealed wrap which has the pleated texture on one side, but is flat on the reverse side.
When you have made as many as you need, heat up a little cooking oil in a pan and gently place the gyoza in it with the flat side facing down. Cook on a high heat until the bottom of the gyoza become crispy and golden.
To finish cooking the gyoza, add a small cup of water to the pan so that the gyoza are half submerged. Place a lid on top of the pan and leave the heat on medium-high.
Allow the gyoza to steam until the water has evaporated, then leave them cooking on the bottom a little longer to make sure that they become crispy and delicious.
Serve the gyoza on a plate with the crispy side facing up and use a combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar and La-Yu Chilli Oil to make a dipping sauce. Alternatively, you can skip this and use a ready made gyoza sauce.

Tips and Information

- If you don't want to fuss with making a gyoza dipping sauce, you can always pick up one of the ready-made gyoza dipping sauces available at Japan Centre.
- The quantities used in this recipe are designed to create enough gyoza to enjoy as a starter.
- You can substitute the meat for other vegetables to make vegetarian gyoza. Try using shiitake mushrooms as an ideal substitution for meat. Similarly, you can also make chicken or prawn gyoza if you feel like a change from pork.
- If you prefer to boil the gyoza instead of pan frying, put them in a large pan of boiling water and allow them to cook for a few minutes until they are ready.
- You can freeze uncooked gyoza to cook and eat them at a later date.
- When using a special gyoza press – simply lay a skin on the press, add your ingredients and moisten the edge with water before closing the press and get a perfect gyoza every time.