Today we are going to cook Japanese gyoza from scratch. In fact, the Japanese borrowed the recipe of Chinese dumplings long time ago. However, gyoza became popular in Japan just about 80 years ago. This dish is so popular in Japan that it even has a statue in the town Utsunomiya. By the way, Utsonomiya town is an unofficial capital of gyoza in Japan. There are more than 2000 places serving gyoza in this town. There is a great number of gyoza fillings, but the most popular one is minced pork with cabbage, ginger and greens. The Japanese like to substitute minced pork with shrimps. They fry this kind of gyoza and serve with beer.
Recipe:
For the Gyoza Wrappers: (30-35 wrappers)
Flour — 250g
Water — 150ml
Salt — ½ tsp
Cornstarch — for rolling and dusting
For the filling:
Minced Pork — 200g
Napa Cabbage — 100g
Shiitake Mushrooms — 20g
Fresh Ginger, grated — 10g
Green Onion or Scallion — 15g
Salt — 1tsp
Soy Sauce — 2tbsp
Sesame Oil — 2tsp
Chili — to taste, optional
For the Dipping Sauce:
Rice Vinegar — 1tbsp
Soy Sauce — 1tbsp
Chili Oil or Chili Flakes — to taste, optional
Sesame Oil — to taste, opyional
Wrappers:
Sift the flour into a big bowl. Boil the water. Add the salt to hot water and stir. Little by little, add hot water to the flour, mixing with a spatula. Mix until the flour and the water turn into dough. If you still have dry flour after adding the water, pour ½ tbsp of hot water at a time, until the mixture forms up into a ball. Put the dough onto the working surface and knead it for about 10 minutes. In 10 minutes the texture of the dough becomes more smooth and elastic. Next, cut the dough ball in two halves (it’s not obligatory to have even halves). Wrap up the dough into a plastic wrap. Let it rest for 15-30 minutes.
You can roll wrappers using two ways: with a rolling pin or with a pasta machine. I use a pasta machine as it is faster.
With a rolling pin:
Unwrap one half of the dough. Sprinkle the working surface with a small amount of cornstarch or flour and roll the dough into a 1mm layer. Using a cooker cutter (8-9cm diameter), make rounds and cover with a plastic wrap until you start adding the filling. The dough quickly gets dry and you might tear it.
Filling:
Chop Chinese cabbage or napa cabbage. Cut green onions or scallion and shiitake mushrooms into small pieces. Mix minced meat, cabbage, green onion and shiitake mushrooms in a big bowl. Add chopped garlic and grated ginger into the bowl. Add the seasonings to a bowl. Mix properly. You may substitute minced meat with shrimps. Before you add the shrimps, you need to clean them, chop them and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
Folding:
Take one wrapper in your hand and place the filling in the center of the round. Moisture the edge of a wrapper with a wet finger. Fold the dough and press it with fingers in the center so that the halves stick to each other.
Cook the Gyoza:
Heat the pan at medium low. When the pan is hot enough, add the olive oil, put gyoza with the flat side on the pan, forming one layer. Fry about 3 minutes, until gyoza gets golden brown. Then add 100ml of warm water into the pan, cover with the lid and cook gyoza for about 3-5 minutes or until most of the water evaporates. Next, remove the lid, cook uncovered for another few minutes. All the water will not evaporate and the bottom of gyoza will not get golden brown and crunchy. Put onto the plate and serve with dipping sauce. For the sauce take all the ingredients, put into a small bowl and mix properly.
Enjoy! 🥟
