Warm your belly and heart with these hot and steamy dumplings.
Dumplings, in my opinion, are the best snack that have ever existed. Now that is up for debate, but whether you’re looking for something to accompany your beer, or sharing appetizers with friends, dumplings are a welcome addition to the party.
Gyoza is a type of traditional Japanese pan-fried dumpling. The key with these dumplings is the crispy outside. If you’ve fried them perfectly, the potato starch should form a delicious paper thin crispy web. The beautiful part about this recipe is that you can stray off the path as much as you’d like. The filling is totally up to you. I like to stay traditional with minced pork, but you can use chicken, beef, or even shrimp if you’re feeling fishy.
Optional: Instead of the togarashi seasoning I used, you can season your protein with salt, pepper, and any kind of chili flake. Add rice vinegar or sesame oil for some extra flavour. Regular corn starch will also work instead of potato starch although I highly recommend it.
Yield: Roughly 50 gyoza / Time: 1 1/2 – 2 hours
Ingredients:
50 dumpling wrappers/gyoza skins (roughly 3 in inches diameter)
2/3 pound of ground/minced pork
3 cups of trimmed and finely shredded green cabbage
2 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic (2 cloves)
2 tablespoons of togarashi seasoning
2 tablespoons of potato starch
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2/3 cup of warm water and potato starch
+ Anything that your hear desires
Directions:
- Simply add the minced pork and cabbage into a mixing bowl. Make sure the cabbage has been drained of moisture and let stand for 15 minutes before hand. Add the chopped garlic, togarashi seasoning, potato starch, and soy sauce into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Get your hands in there and give the mixture a squeeze to make sure it will hold form.
- Lay out the dumpling wrappers individually on a tray lightly dusted with potato starch. Dip a finger in the warm water+potato starch mixture and wet the entire outside of the dumpling wrapper. Add about one tablespoon of filling and fold in half. Pinch the outside of the dumpling wrapper with your fingers until it is sealed. Rinse and repeat.
- Use a cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Coat the entire pan with a thin layer of oil, preferably sesame or sunflower. When the pan is hot, add the gyoza in neat rows. Fry them for about 10 seconds, then quickly pore in the water+potato starch mixture, cover with a lid and steam for 4-5 minutes. Once all the water has evaporated, fry for about 1 extra minute then remove.
- Remove the gyoza with a thin spatula to maintain the thin layer of crispiness created by the potato starch.
- Prepare a bowl of soy sauce and whatever extra seasoning you would like to dip with.
- Dip in the sauce and enjoy.