Japanese Gyoza (Potstickers)

I learned to make this recipe when we lived in Japan. It's been almost 20 years since then! Gus and I ate Gyoza in Tokyo, Shizuoka,  Kansaii, Kyoto, Kobe, and little places along the way. We started to develop ideas for what we thought was "good gyoza". To us, this meant that it had a balance of pork and vegetable and  the right blend of onion, garlic, and gingers so that one flavor didn't overpower the others. 

We had our worst gyoza in Iberaki on a night when we were traveling, exhausted, and hungry! Needless to say, this is a strong memory of soggy, cabbage filled gyoza!  Our best gyoza was made at a chain of restaurants, famous with the Missionaries who went to  serve in Japan. It was called "Gyoza no Osho" or "The King  of Gyoza." They served lines of 6 gyoza at about 200 yen a piece.  If you could eat 10 lines of gyoza, you could get them for free. Many a missionary tried, and failed or made themselves sick! 

One story Gus loves to tell is when they picked up his new companion, Elder Stewart, a small town boy from Logan, Utah, just after he arrived from America. They took him to Gyoza no Osho and ordered the usual line of gyoza.  At the table was a bottle of red clear liquid, brown liquid and white clear liquid. You mix these together to get the sauce that is used to dip the gyoza in.  Someone told Elder Stuart that the red  liquid was the mildest of the 3 and that he should use plenty of that when mixing his sauce so that it wasn't too hot. Elder Stuart did as he was told and soon seemed very uncomfortable. He was drinking lots of water, his nose was running, and he was loosening his tie. He said something like, "Wow! If this is the hot stuff, I would hate to find out what the brown and white sauces are like!" 

At some point, maybe from the snickering, he learned that he had been dipping his gyoza "Rayu" or  hot chili oil. The brown liquid was merely soy sauce, and the White was Rice vinegar.  I have included the recipe for the sauce here also. It is inseperable when serving gyoza. Simply add more red chile oil if  you'd like to loosen your collar or make your nose run too!

 

This gyoza recipe is one that I was taught from a Japanese friend of mine when we lived in Shizuoka. It was a good one! The only difference is that I don't steam the cabbage before chopping it. I have tried it both ways and haven't noticed any difference in the gyoza'a flavor when it is added raw instead. It cooks up just the same. This eliminates a a cumbersome step.

We make gyoza from time to time for visitors, but lately we just do it for the kids! It is a special favorite of Sam, Timmy, and Julia. The day we took these pictures Dad, Katherine were in Germany and Rebekkah was at Girls camp. The four of us ate all 75 in about 2 meals! YUM! No guilt whatsoever! Hope you like it!

Gyoza Ingredients

A scant 1.25 lbs of ground pork

1 1/2 TB  grated ginger (about a 2x1 inch piece)

1 1/2 tsp pressed garlic (3 cloves)

2 bunches of green onions chopped in small pieces up to the dark green portions

2 cups  cabbage leaves chopped into tiny pieces (this is about 1/2 of a medium head of cabbage. Avoid the  thick core of the cabbage)

1 tsp salt

1 TB soy sauce

96 (2 packages) round gyoza skins (raviolli wrappers) or Square wonton wrappers in  the produce refrigerator section at the grocery store. The amount you make will vary depending on how much fill you put in them. 

Directions for Assembling Gyoza

1. Put all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Wash your hands well (or use food handling gloves) and mix the ingredients by squishing them through your hands until it appears evenly mixed. 

2. Prepare 2 cookie sheets or metal baking trays by spraying them lightly with cooking spray.  Fill a small bowl with water and get a tablespoon to scoop out the meat mixture with.  It helps to have 2-3 gyoza makers!  I use 1 to fill the gyoza skins and one to seal them. 

3. Place about 1 TB of gyoza mix in the center of the gyoza skin. (See Timmy above for an example). To seal the gyoza skin, put your finger in the bowl or water and then wipe it around the edge of the gyoza skin. Fold the skin in half around the meat and then press the edges together. They will seal beacause they are wet. 

4. You should now have a rectangle  or half circle with a lump of meat in the center inside. Now, place your finger into the water again. Wipe the water around the edges of the front (or top)of the gyoza (not the folded center). Then fold the ed the gyoza. You can also finish the gyoza by using your finger to flute the edges like you are making small pleats all the way around the edge. They look authentic and fancier this way! Then place the gyoza in lines on the cookie sheet. (See at Sam's picture above.) 

Cooking Instructions

1. Get a frying pan (non-stick preferrably) with a lid. Spray with cooking spray or baste with vegetable oil so that the entire pan is covered. Heat the frying pan to medium-high heat. Place the gyoza in lines of 5-6 gyoza a piece. That way you can flip them easily with the spatula (See picture directly above). Wait for it to turn a light crispy  brown , about 1-2 minutes,  (See picture on opposite page) then use a spatula to turn the gyoza over. Be careful to get under the gyoza completely or it may break open. 

2. Next, add  1/2 cup of water to the frying pan. Put the lid on and wait until the water is completely absorbed. Take off the lid and  wait until it begins to sizzle again. Remove the gyoza with a spatula.

Finally, serve with the gyoza dipping sauce over short grain, sticky rice. It's EASY! Try it!

Dipping sauce 

Mix in small bowls for each person.

1 part soy sauce (about 1Tb per person)

1 part  rice vinegar (it is much milder than white vinegar)

1/2 tsp sesame seed oil (per person)

1/2 tsp hot chili oil (rayu) or more if you like