How to Make Homemade Gyoza

I love Gyoza. These little potstickers have always delighted me whenever we visit Japanese restaurants, and finally, when hubby and I got lost in Johor, Mayasia one time, we stumbled upon this cozy little gyoza kiosk that made us fall in love with gyoza even more. I actually planned to sell them as a business, and now I can finally start, thanks to my incredibly talented cousin who taught me how to make these Japanese delights.

Homemade Gyoza Recipe

Ingredients:

• .2 kg cabbage
• 2 stems spring onion
• 2 packs (approx. 500 grams) dumpling wrapper (Marby brand was too flour-y for my taste. If you have the time, go to Ongpin and look for gyoza wrappers there)
• 1/2 clove of garlic
• coin-sized ginger
• 1 kilo regular ground pork
• seasonings: 6 tbsp. Kikkoman soy sauce
•                    2 tsp. pepper
•                    2 tbsp. corn starch
•                     1 tbsp. sugar
•                     1/2 tsp. salt
• for the gyoza sauce, Kikkoman and vinegar in 4:2 ratio

1. Finely dice cabbage and soak in saltwater for 15 minutes.

 

2. Finely dice spring onions. Strain both cabbage and spring onions into paper napkin and squeeze out excess water.

3. Mix and mash the ground pork into the bowl of cabbage and spring onions. Add the diced garlic and ginger. Add all the seasonings. Then, keep mashing with your hands until it feels like you're squishing gum (or brains!). 

4. Wrap the pork mixture with the dumpling wrappers. Get ready because this'll take some time! So sit yourself down on a comfy chair and get started. Use a bowl of water with corn starch to use as dumpling paste. Also, use a plate with corn starch to prevent the dumpling from sticking to each other.

5. To wrap, grab a wrapper, then scoop an adequate amount of pork mixture into the middle of the wrapper. Then, use your finger to wet the outer circle of your wrapper. Fold the wrapper and push the tips of the wrapper together to make them stick and seal the meat inside. Afterwards, try to fold them into fan-like designs. It takes practice, but after a few weird-looking dumplings, you'll get the hang of it; promise!

6. When you're done, add enough oil to thinly cover the surface of a nonstick pan over medium heat. Then, place the gyoza inside enough to fill the pan. After the bottoms begin to brown, pour in half a soup bowl of water and immediately cover. Let it cook until the water disappears. This means the gyoza is done, and just enough to make the wrapper crispy without burning them. Then, turn off the heat, flip onto a plate, and serve. Don't forget to mix the sauce into a sauce bowl for the perfect taste!