Gyoza dumplings

What delicious sounding and looking dumplings, Maki! And thanks so much for explaining the how behind putting them together...now I feel as though I could make them!

Hi Maki,

Nice looking gyoza. If only I could cook them so well! =)

Hi Maki,

Nice looking gyoza. If only I could cook them so well! =)

Hi Maki - what beautifully folded gyoza! Thanks so much for the great instructions and step by step photos!

yum!!! i love gyoza/guotie/wotie!!! :) yours looks amazingly scrummy!

yay for gyoza! check out my pork dumpling post!

http://www.holyshitake.com/archives/2004/01/pork_dumplings.html

You can coat the gyoza in katakuriko or corn starch before frying them to get an even more crunchy/crispy bottom. If you do so, you need to slowly pour the water in to avoid washing away the katakuriko.

I love qyoza as well, especially as a side dish with udon. Rather than soy sauce, I prefer an umeboshi mix:

Chop two umeboshi finely (or just get a jar of umeboshi paste). Mix with two teaspoons soy sauce and two teaspoons rice vinegar (apple cider vinegar works fine too). It should be a runny, red, slightly lumpy, paste; just dip/scoop the qyoza in it.

Hi Maki, I stumbled across your blog recently and like it especially the Japanese food recipes you posted. And I must admit I love Japanese food.

Thanks for posting the gyoza recipe. Reminded me of my stay in Japan and my great love for Jap food. Haven't tried making gyoza but I wanna try it using your recipe. Thanks and please keep posting more Jap recipes. :-)

Elna
London, England

Hi,
I just wanted to say thanks to the wonderful blog you have. However the links in this article are mostly dead, could you take a look?
IMBB one and "You're Just The Cutest Dumpling" links.

it's great nice picture. Tried the recipe it's good.

Luke Chou
www.shanghaiguide.com
www.ddsclub.com

Ponzu is really good on gyoza. I have yet to try my hand at making them. I helped my friend Chie once, but I get nervous about putting water in hot oil!

Thank you so much for your step by step guide to making gyoza. I will have to try it sometime! It is nice to find other gyoza lovers who are passionate about this yummy treat! I posted your blog in my blog as a reference in how to make these! Ja ne!

Great recipe, the gyoza turned out great, and I had a great time making them. I think it would be fair to call it my first true success in japanese cooking, everything else I've made turned out horrendous. Do you freeze them uncooked? I made the mistake of using a vacuum sealer, which compressed them and turned my gyoza into a giant gyoza steak, which I still ate incidentally.

Mom made gyoza skins when I was a kid. Dad brought back the receipe from Korea. I'm trying to find a store that sells the skins. Any help?

Hi

Thanks for the great recipe, I love Gyoza's and want to make them, however where can I get Gyoza skins as I live at the end of the world !(Norfolk)

Giovanna, not knowing where you live it's a bit difficult, but try any Japanese, Korean or Chinese store - they should have them.

I ran into this website that tells you how to make the wrap. I'm not sure if it will be the same. http://www.kevinryan.com/student/tc/HW/misanakazato.htm

TrackBack from cheesedip.com:
Makiko Itoh's gyoza post is fantastic, especially this bit: My family has deep emotional ties to the gyoza. My sister...

Hello the Gyoza I see looks amazing, I was stationed in Japan and I came to love Gyoza, however now I am staioned in Germany and can not seem to find Gyoza wrappers so does anyone know where I can order the wrappers from? I would truly apprecitate the information, I am craving Gyoza...

Hollie, depending on where you are stationed, chances are there is a Japanese food store near you. I know that there are ones in Duesseldorf and Frankfurt. You may want to ask at a Japanese restaurant where they get their stuff!

Great job!

This stuff is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!

Boiling the cabbage was just that little information i needed! Gyoza came out perfect - just as i know them from japan!

My husband and I have been trying to perfect homemade dumplings for a few years now. We've done well so far but i have two problems; the pork, always a little dry and bland, and the sauce, just can't get it to taste like what we are served at the Chinese restaurants. I've let the pork marinate for a few hours to let the seasonings really sink in but to no avail.
I tried again a few weeks ago with your recipie but I didn't have any cabbage so I just left it out.. I've got some now and am planning to make dumplings for my husband's bento sometime this week. I'll try it with cabbage this time.

Any suggestions? Perhaps I should shorten the cooking time to make the meat more moist? The sauce can wait but the pork being dry.. that's blaspheme! :p

I made gyoza yesterday, and I should have come here first! My meat (ground chicken) turned out far too dry for my taste, and I had let my wrappers sit for too long. I won't give up, though; like your sister I love gyoza far too much not to figure out the secret.

Thanks for this! What is especially valuable here is the cooking technique you've presented; I've followed other recipes exactly and I never seemed to get that nice crispy bottom on the dumpling until now.

You've mentioned in various places how high gyoza are in calories, some 100 per gyoza. What is it that makes the calories so high? Is it the carbs in the wrapper? The cut of meat? The oil? All of it together?

Or does this apply more to pre-made gyoza than to homemade, boiled gyoza? I've had some store-bought gyoza that are pretty greasy inside, but when I'm folding my own, I still can't understand what gives them this designation.

Thank you! ^^

I was wondering if I could use wonton wrappers instead of gyoza skins? I live in a very small town and don't have easy access to an Asian Grocery store.
Thanks!

I love gyozas too!

I currently am studying abroad in Scotland, and Japanese ingredients are scarce. Do you think you can do a post on how to make the gyoza no kawa? Thanks!

I just tried this recipe..
Sooooooooooo goooodddddddd :D:D:D:D
Thank you so so much Maki for this recipe :)

If I use frozen gyoza sheets can I freeze them back again once assembled?
Congratulations for your blog, I like it very much!

Thanks for the recipe, I absolutely love gyoza.
One thing I was wondering though, I've eaten them a couple of times with some sort of crusty bit connecting the gyoza. I think they ad something more than just the water to steam them? Do you know anything about this?

I've made this recipe at least 5 times now, and it always a hit! :) I just made it again for lunch today, and the hubby literally inhaled them in 5 mins! Seems like I never make enough... Thanks for the great recipe :)

This recipe was truly great, thank you so much for sharing it. I followed all the steps and it was perfect! Yum, and it makes enough for 2 people to have 6 meals.

I made these last night! Was fantastic! Thank you Maki!

I have been trying to find good authentic gyoza since I left Okinawa back in 1991. I loved to eat these with a order of chicken yakisoba. I will definitely be making these.

What about nira as one of the ingredients for gyoza. It is hard to find in the US but isn't that one of the "must have" ingredients for the true flavor of gyoza? Is the green onion enough of a substitute for the garlic chive known as nira?

Is there a way to make the Gyoza vegetarian? I looked for recipes but failed.

Got my first taste of Gyoza 5 yrs ago and fell in love. The problem was finding them ready made in stores. Now they are available but I made some homemade ones this summer. Hubby has only started eating them this summer but he prefers the homemade ones. The problem is he doesn't know when to stop making and eating them if we have the ingredients in the house lol.

I made these tonight, and they were amazing! I've wanted to try and make gyoza at home for several years now, and finally got around to it- I'm really glad I did! Thank you for the awesome recipe and step by step instructions (I'm kind of a newbie at making food from the East), it was very easy to understand and follow.
Thank you again!

These sound deeelicious :) I am going to try to work out a veggie version asap (tofu, mushroom, cabbage, pak choi maybe?) and make a big batch but I was wondering about cooking them back from frozen? If you freeze a bunch is it best to defrost them before cooking, or just throw them in the pan frozen..? Thanks for your help, and for sharing this great recipe!

I made my first gyoza last night (http://mrs-jones-to-be.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/i-cooked-gyoza-japanese-du...) and although I know that I didn't roll the dough out enough, I still found them quite stodgy and sticky after steaming them - can you give me any tips on how to make them a little more crispy?

If you want to taste some of the best Gyoza in the world, you need to travel to Sendai in Touhoku. Nearby the Tohoku University International House and Tohoku Fukushi University. In Sanjo Machin http://goo.gl/maps/ALh4c There is a speciality store called The Gyoza. I have been around the globe to taste dumplings and this man serves the most delicious gyoza I have ever tasted.

Just made some of these as my special birthday dinner, only I used some firm tofu instead of pork, and added some extra shredded vegetables (packaged broccoli slaw, actually) to the cabbage. They were totally awesome! Thanks for the help! :)

I made these Gyoza dumplings today had to use square wonton wrappers I found it hard to get the edges to stick together any suggestions ??

Question:
when freezing gyozas, should they already be cooked or should they be raw?

Thank you!

[quote=maki]

I've missed 2 IMBB days, so this time I had to jump in. When the theme for this month, You're Just The Cutest Dumpling was announced by Jarrett of Food Porn Watch, there was only one dumpling I could make: the gyoza. Specifically, this is a Japanese-style gyoza dumpling.

My family has deep emotional ties to the gyoza. My sister Mayumi loved gyoza when she was a teenager. While her schoolmates put little Hello Kitty dolls and such on their school bags, she made a felt gyoza dumpling and hung that from the handle of her bag. I didn't go that far, but I've always loved this little meat-and-vegetable filled dumpling.

Gyoza originated in China, but as with many other things it's gotten assimilated into everyday Japanese cooking. It is closely related to shumai and wonton. The filling is usually pork based, with cabbage, green onion, garlic or garlic chives, and ginger, though there are variations. I've even had gyoza filled with lettuce and tuna, and it was pretty good. In Japan we usually use thin, ready-made gyoza skins rather than handmade ones, because a thin skin is considered to be desirable. Besides, making all those little dumplings is quite a job so not having to make the skins too saves some time. You can get the skins from Japanese, Korean or Chinese food stores. Try to get ones that are a bit big in diameter, especially if you are a beginner, since it does take a bit of experience to form the dumplings.

Gyoza dumplings can be boiled or deep-fried, but the usual way is to steam-fry them so that they are crispy on the bottom and smooth and slippery on the top. This makes for a wonderful texture. To achieve this please read through the cooking directions; it can be a bit tricky, and these dumpling can stick hard to the frying pan if not done right. Japanese-style gyoza dumplings

This makes 72 dumplings (3 packs of 24-piece gyoza skins worth). I like to make a lot at one time and freeze batches.

• 250g / about 8 oz. ground pork (ground veal can also work well)
• 3 bunches of green onions
• 6-8 cabbage leaves
• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. dark sesame oil
• 4 packs of gyoza skins (24 skins in each pack)
• Peanut oil for frying

Blanch the cabbage leaves until wilted in boiling water. Drain, let cool then squeeze hard to get out as much moisture as possible.
Finely chop the cabbage and the green onions. Grate the ginger and garlic cloves. Mix all the ingredients except for the gyoza skins and oil for frying in a bowl thoroughly. Let marinate for about and hour if possible.

Make your dumpling assembly station ready: you'll need a little cup of water, a large platter, the gyoza skins, the filling and a teaspoon. Keep the skins under a damp cloth or in the plastic pack they come in to keep them from drying out.

Put a skin on your palm and moisten half of the edge with water. Put a teaspoonful of filling in the middle--don't overfill them or you'll have trouble closing them up. Fold over in half and pinch firmly in the middle. Now, fold over the skin on the side facing you, from both sides, pinching firmly as you go. Your aim is to create a dumpling that is flat on one side and plump on the other. Note: if the filling is a bit watery and dribbling out of the dumpling, mix in a little cornstarch.

To steam-fry the dumplings, heat up a frying pan with a little peanut or other vegetable oil in it. A non-stick pan is very good for this. Put the dumplings flat side down into the pan, slightly overlapping. Cook over high heat for a couple of minutes untl the bottoms have started to crisp up. Lower the heat to low.

Now, get a cup with about 1/2 cup of water, and a lid for the frying pan. Hold the water in one hand and the lid in the other, and rapidly pour the water into the pan and immediately put the lid on. Let the dumplings cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the tops looks sort of transparent and puffy (when you open the pan the dumplings will rapidly un-puff.) When the water is almost all gone, turn the heat up to high to evaporate the rest and really crisp up the bottoms. Pry the dumplings carefully off the pan with a spatula and serve crispy side up on a plate.

To eat, dip the dumplings into a soy sauce and vinegar mixture or soy sauce and a few drops of hot chili oil called Ra-yu. Plain soy sauce will work too, or even soy sauce with some Tabasco in it.

The traditional accompaniment for gyoza is shredded raw cabbage, but I prefer to serve a plain green salad with it. And rice, of course.

If you prefer to boil the gyoza, simply drop into boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Boiled gyoza seems to go better with a soy sauce and vinegar dipping sauce.

Tip: to freeze extra gyoza, put them on a tray (metal is best) in a single layer; once frozen you can put them in a freezer bag or plastic container. This way they are not stuck together, and you can take out just as many as you want.[/quote]

Great receipt! Just a question: do you freeze them uncoocked? And when you cook the frozen gyoza do you have to defrost them before putting them in the pan?
Thanks!