Gyouza (ぎょうざ) recipe

I love gyouza, probably my favourite Japanese food, next to Ramen. Which is ironic really, since they’re both Chinese food essentially! Ooops. T_T

Still, you’ve got to try them. Gyouza are a type of dumpling which is usually fried or grilled. They come in a variety of names, the most being ‘Gyouza’ in Japan, ‘Jiăozi’ in China, and ‘potstickers’ in the US. The idea is pretty simple, they’re made from a basic water/flour pasta recipe, usually with a meat based filling. Like a large ravioli or tortellini The traditional gyouza contain diced pork with cabbage, green onion and garlic, although you’ll find endless amounts of combinations. Chicken gyouza are also pretty popular, as well as vegetarian gyouza. “Yo! Sushi” make a fantastic duck and miso paste gyouza set, it’s fantastic *drools*.

But enough about that, here’s my recipe for basic pork gyouza.

Ok, the ingredients you’ll need for about a dozen gyouza are:

Gyouza skins: [either make from scratch or buy pre-made ones]

- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of water

For the filling:

- Diced/minced pork
- Green (salad) onion
- Half a white onion
- Half a cup of diced cabbage (either type is fine)
- Two cloves of garlic
- A little amount of grated ginger (i’d say about… the size of a 50p/a quarter’s worth)
- Pinch of salt to taste
- Extra virgin oil or equivalent
- [optional] a few drops of toasted sesame seed oil

For the dipping sauce:
- Equal measures of dark soy sauce and white rice wine vinegar (or normal white vinegar).

You’ll also need some tin foil if you wish to freeze some for later, and a small bowl of water.

To make the skins from scratch, take the water and flour and mix together. This isn’t a really a science thing, so if you’ve got a sloppy mixture, then add more flour. If its too tough, add more water. You are looking to get a consistency where you will be able to roll it thinly without it sticking to the pin or cracking! I’d say keep adding a little bit of flour until just after it stops sticking to your hands. Once you’ve the got the dough thoroughly mixed, split it up into small balls about the size of a £2 coin / silver dollar. Roll these balls into flat circles. The thinner you can get them, the better they’ll taste. They should be about 3 1/2 inches / 9-10 cm in size.

For the mixture:

1.) Take the onions, cabbage, ginger and salt, dice them and mix them together in a bowl.

2.) Put a teaspoon of olive oil in a hot frying pan. De-shell the garlic cloves and dice them into small pieces. Put them in the hot oil until they start to brown.

3.) Once the garlic is browned, add the diced/minced pork. Cook it a little and break it up in the pan using a spatula.

4.) Once the pork is nearly cooked, add a little olive oil to the cabbage, onions and ginger mixture, then add them to the frying pan with the pork and toss (or stir) together.

5.) Turn the stove off, and take prepare your gyouza skins. Take one, dip your finger into the bowl of water and make a semi-circle around the inner edge. Put a small teaspoon of filling in the middle. Too much filling will make the gyouza burst.

6.) Fold the gyouza in half. Gently push the filling together and stick the two edges of the skin together, sealing the gyouza. Then dip your fore finger and thumb in the water and wet the edges you just sealed together. Then take the gyouza from one end, and fold a little of the edge on to itself. Do this down the gyouza until you reach the edge. Squeeze together to make sure the gyouza are sealed.

7.) If you make excess gyouza like I do, take some tin foil and line up about 6 gyouza at a time for a typical serving. Wrap them up in the foil and just stick them in the freezer.

8.) Heat up a frying pan and add a teaspoon of olive oil and a few drops of sesame seed oil (careful this stuff can overpower).

9.) Stick the gyouza into the frying pan and fry until one side is cooked (it might be hard to tell, it goes a little white and bubbly). Turn them over and repeat.

10.) Now, you can serve them like this, although I add a few teaspoons of cold water to the pan. Be careful of this though! It will spit up and go everywhere. If you do do that, turn the heat down a bit first to save setting the whole place on fire or scalding yourself.

11.) Serve the gyouza on a plate. Mix equal amounts of dark soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to make the sauce. Dip and enjoy!

Gyouza can bee cooked in different ways, you can fry them, grill them, steam them, boils them, all sorts. Try changing the filling and the dipping sauce as well.

You can find the gyouza skins in some chinese/japanese grocery stores. They usually come in packs of about 24 in the freezer. Defrost before you use them.

Gyouza make a great accompaniment to ramen! ¬_¬