Gyōza is one of those dishes that I will definitely order whenever I go to Japanese restaurant. Gyōza is originally a Chinese dish before becoming a staple in Japanese cuisine. Jiaozi or potsticker is the equivalent of gyōza in Chinese dish. Gyōza typically consists of ground meat, garlic, cabbage, nira (Chinve vhinces), soya sauce, and sesame oil, which is then wrapped into thinly rolled piece of dough and sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping.

Like jiaozi, gyōza can be boiled, steamed, pan frying and deep frying. The most popular preparation method if pan frying, which is called yaki-gyōza (焼き餃子). The dumpling is first fried on one flat side to create a crispy skin. Then, water is added to the pan and covered with lid, which then forms steam to cook the upper part of the gyōza. In this case, gyōza is the equivalent of potsticker or guotie (锅贴) in Chinese. Usually, a soya based dipping sauce is accompanied with gyōza. For those who like a bit of spiciness in food, rāyu (ラー油, known as làyóu (辣油) – a chili pepper infused sesame oil) can be added. The way I like the dipping sauce is to add some Japanese chili powder in the soya sauce.

Making gyōza could be quite a lengthy process if you are also making the dough from scratch. I tend to buy gyoza wrappers from Chinese/Japanese supermarkets. When comes to wrapping the gyōza, I think it’s down to practise. I started off not very good but after wrapping a few ugly looking gyōza, they started to improve. I still think that my skill is not perfect and I still need more practice to make them nice looking. Having said that, I might have to wait until I finish all my gyōza in the freezer! I made lots of them, probably about 40-50!

As you may or may not know, Harumi Kurihara is always my inspiration in Japanese cooking. Her book, Harumi’s Japanese Cooking is one of my favourites that I will not get bored in reading and referring to! She is very talented and all her food are really healthy and yummy. I once made Chawan Mushi, based on her recipe too. Her recipes are worth trying. So, you may want to give her authentic gyōza recipe a go!

Recipe: Yaki Gyōza

Makes 48 dumplings

Ingredients:

Cabbage, 100g

Chinese cabbage, 100g

Salt, 0.5 tsp

Nira (Chinese chives), 100g

Minced pork, 200g

Lard, 2 tbsp

Water, 100ml mixed with 1 tsp Chinese soup paste or rich chicken stock

Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

Shokoshu or dry sherry, 1 tbsp

Garlic (finely chopped), 2 cloves

Ginger (finely chopped), 15g

Spring onions (finely chopped), 50g

Salt and pepper, to taste

Round gyōza pastry skins, 48

Potato starch or cornflour, as needed

Sunflower or vegetable oil

For dipping sauce:

Rice vinegar, soya sauce with a few drops of chili oil (rāyu)

Method:

1. Finely chop two types of cabbage. Mix them together in a bowl, season with salt and set aside to use later. Cut the nira in half lengthways and finely chop.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the pork and lard by hand. Add the Chinese soup mix, leave to cool then add the sesame oil, shokoshu, finely chopped garlic, ginger, and spring onions. Mix together before adding the nira.

3. Squeeze the cabbage to remove excess water. Add to the meat mixture, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

4. The stuffing is now ready, and you can either use it now or leave in the fridge  overnight and use the next day.

5. Place an even spoonful of stuffing onto each pastry skin. Wet the edges of the skin with water and pleat them to seal.  (How to pleat gyōza)

6. Dust each dumpling with a litter potato starch. Heat a small quantity of oil in a large frying pan. Shake the dumplings to remove any excess potato starch and then arrange them in rows in the pan.

7. Add enough water to come a third of the way up the dumplings, cover and cook over a medium heat until the water has evaporated and you can see the bottoms of the dumplings changing colour.

8. Remove the lid and drizzle a little oil over the dumplings. Carry on cooking uncovered, until the bottom is crispy then turn them over to brown both sides. Place on a large serving dish.

9. To make the dipping sauce: mix together soya sauce, rice vinegar and a few drops of rāyu. Eat with the hot dumplings.