Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Recipe: Japanese gyoza (potsticker) 餃子

During Chinese New Year, jiaozi 饺子or potsticker is traditionally eaten in northern China because its shape resembles a golden ingot yuan bao used during the Ming Dynasty for money, so serving them is believed to bring prosperity. Many families will eat these at midnight on Chinese New Year's Eve and some cooks will even hide a clean coin for the lucky person to find.

Nowadays, it is eaten all over the world and one of the more popular versions is the Japanese gyoza. The most popular preparation method is the pan-fried style called Yaki-gyōza (焼き餃子)  in which the dumpling is first pan fried on one flat side, creating a crispy skin. Then, water is added and the pan is covered with a lid, and steamed until most of the water has evaporated and the gyoza is cooked through.

Homemade Japanese Gyoza


My first encounter with gyoza was in Wagamama in Birmingham many years ago. It was love at first bite, and from then on, I would often order it if I see it on menus at Japanese restaurants (mainly ramen places). I never really thought of making it myself at home, because folding the pleats look quite complicated. That was until one of my good blogging friends Sonia showed us how to fold the gyoza pleats during our Christmas gathering last year! I have Sonia to thank as now I make gyoza all the time for my family at home and they love it very much. These are extremely good, and even puts restaurant gyozas to shame at times.


Quite proud of my homemade Japanese gyozas ;)

Crispy and juicy gyozas

Gyozas make an appearance on our lunch menu all the time now, often served with cold soba 


Gyoza served with a soy sauce-vinegar dip with julienned ginger

Juicy within!

Gyoza skin can be easily obtained in KL, usually found in the tofu/fresh noodle (chiller) section. I use a brand called Lo Sam and each pack comes with 28 gyoza wrappers. I will usually make a batch of 28 and cook half, and freeze the other half. It will keep well in the freezer for up to a month, and before cooking, remove from freezer for 30 minutes and it will be ready to be pan fried as usual. It only takes less than 5 minutes to cook, hence will make a great (quick) accompaniment to lunch or dinner. These are actually quite fun to make with your kids, Baby C managed to wrap a few with a little help from me.

Video on how to fold a Japanese gyoza



Japanese Gyoza (Potstickers) 餃子
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes 28 (Serves 4)

For the gyoza filling
250g minced pork
100g cabbage, chopped finely
1 stalk spring onion, chopped finely
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tbsp Japanese light soy sauce
1/2 tsp mirin
1/2 tsp sake
3/4 tsp salt or to taste
Pepper

1 pack (200g) gyoza wrappers

For frying one batch (you can usually cook 14 in one batch)
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup water

For the dipping sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1-2 cm ginger, julienned


1. In a large bowl, mix all the filling ingredients with your hands until well combined.



Japanese gyoza wrapper


2. To wrap a gyoza, please refer to video above. Prepare a small bowl of water. Place a small mound of filling in the centre of the wrapper. Dip your finger into the water, and run it around the edges of the gyoza wrapper.  Bring the edges together to form a semi-circle. Seal the centre (only) by gently pressing down with your fingers. Moving from centre to the right, form a pleat and press to seal. Leave a small gap then repeat with another pleat and press to seal. Now, make another 2 pleats on the left hand side as you just did on the right side. So, in total you will have 4 pleats on each gyoza. Once the pleats are done, gently curve the ends so that it forms sort of a moon-shape when looking from above. 


Making 2 pleats on the right hand side

Ready to be cooked


3. Cook in two batches (14 in a batch). In a medium non-stick frying pan, heat oil on medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place gyoza in a row (touching each other) at the center and place the rest of gyoza to fill up the entire pan.




4. Fry gyoza until the bottom turns golden brown, this will take about 1-2 minutes (pick up the gyoza with your hands and check if golden on the bottom). Then pour in the water and immediately cover with the lid, and steam the gyoza until most of the water has evaporated.

5. Remove gyoza to a serving plate, pan fried golden side up (more attractive looking) and serve hot with dipping sauce.To make the dipping sauce, just mix the soy sauce and vinegar and top with julienned ginger.




6. You can freeze uncooked gyozas for up to a month in the freezer. When freezing, leave space in between so that the gyoza will not stick together. Before cooking, simple remove from freezer to defrost for 30 minutes. Then, cook as in Step 3-5.

*This recipe was featured on Fabulous Food Blog Recipes on 10 April 2013.

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50 comments:

  1. Hi Yen
    In fact I have tried making gyoza previously; I remember the first time, I made using the wrong wrapper (I used the type for sui kow) end up so hard...lol. If only wrapping can be made easier then I can have this for lunch every alternate days. It took me hours to finish wrapping up and took minutes to makan!

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    1. Hi Mel, these gyoza wrappers can be easily found now in KL. I usually make a whole batch of 28 (enough for 2 meals) in less than 30 mins. Do try it again, it is well worth it.

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  2. Looks really good. My daughter loves those - I'm just ok with them.

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    1. Thanks Arthur. Can u get gyoza wrappers easily there too?

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  3. Your gyozas look so pretty and well wrapped, nowadays when i want to be fast, i would use that gadget where u clamp the gyozas together. Not as pretty though. :)

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    1. Ah yes, I've seen them selling those gadgets at Daiso before. Was tempted to get it but now I know how to fold it by hand and it only takes 30 seconds to fold each.

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  4. Hi Yen,
    Your gyoza looks so well made! And delicious! Yum!

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  5. Yen, Thanks for your shout out and great that your family love it..yes, I also like to make it big batch and store in freezer , have to do another batch again ..,you did it so well too by the way.

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    1. Hi Sonia, thanks for showing both me and Jessie how to fold the pleats. You are my sifu! :D

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  6. Yen, I usually buy the ready made ones. I should really spend some time to make my own and freeze like you do. Doesn't seem difficult, just that I have to learn how to fold it properly.

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    1. I was lucky to be shown how to do it, hopefully the video above helps. Once you have mastered it, it's quite quick to make your own.

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  7. Dear, I have been waiting for your gyoza! Yoh, like the Japanese-themed meal! Homemade the best! I had been to Wagamama once in Sydney but I didn't want to go back anymore. I've learned that a real good Japanese restaurant will be seen visited by a lot of Japanese customers, so if you see other types of customers more than the Japanese, hmmmm, no thanks!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hehe Jessie, finally I post about the gyoza. Been in my draft folder for so long! We have this gyoza very often now, since my hubby really likes it.

      Wagamama was quite good in UK, esp when I have craving for noodles. But u r right, more Western customers than Japanese. :P

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  8. Yen, you make it look so easy. Ok, I shall give this a try sometime. I am convinced that I'm pretty bad at wrapping dumplings but I shall give it another try.

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    1. Mich, I thought it would be very complicated too, but once you know how to do it, it's not tht difficult. Hopefully the video helps.

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  9. wah, i have to give a standing ovation to this gyoza. they look perfectly made! :D

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  10. I can't resist gyoza especially if they are as perfect as these. They look so delicious!

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    1. Thanks Adora! We love them very much, have it for lunch all the time since it's quick and easy!

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  11. Gyoza is yummy. I like dipping it in the mixture of soya sauce+vinegar. ;-)

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    1. Me too! Homemade gyozas taste much juicier to me too.

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  13. Your Gyoza look so so yummy..feel like picking one straight from the pics!! Very tempting:)

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    1. Thanks Amrita! They're quite fun to make with kids too.

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  14. Hi Yen, after pan frying one side, do u turn the fried side up before pouring the water ? Wuld love to try this one day.

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    1. Hi Esther, you do not need to flip the gyoza. Just pour the water in straight away and then cover with the lid.

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  15. Hi Yen! Your gyoza look like those that are served in Jap restaurants!

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    1. Thanks for the compliment, Alvin. It's because I have a great sifu!

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  16. Yen,I made these gyoza before, they are very delicious!!! Your gyoza looks beautiful!!!!

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    1. Thanks Esther! Nowadays I dont order them in restaurants anymore cos these are too good.

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  17. I've tasted and verified that these gyozas are MUCH better than those you get at Wagamama ;)

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  18. very good presentation! and the jiao zhi looks so nicely pleated, I hope I could have your skill too...I wish to make nice jiao zhi but always ended up making wonton hehe

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    1. Hi Stephanie, watch the video, hopefully u can pick up how to fold the pleats nicely. I practice a few times before I get them looking nice :)

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  19. Wow! These look great! I would love to eat one right now! :-)

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  20. These look soooo good, its almost dinner time.

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    Replies
    1. If you have some gyoza wrappers lying around, now is a good time to make some :)

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  21. You got these perfect! I love the burnished bottoms-the crispy bit is always my favourite part ;)

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    1. Thanks Lorraine! I love the crispy bottoms too and when u bite into them, they're juicy and nice!

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  22. Gyoza is one of my all time favs. I bet your home made ones are fab.

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    1. Usually restaurants charge like RM10 for 4.. I can make 28 for less than tht. Haha!

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  23. Your gyoza so nice in shape, better than some of the restaurant out there :P
    PS: can we use normal wonton skin instead of the Japanese Gyoza skin?

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    1. Hi Choi Yen, it would better to use gyoza skin if you are making gyozas right. You can get them easily at Jusco/Tesco, at the fresh noodle/tofu section.

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  24. I should try frying mine the same way as yours next time ! They look way better :D

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  25. I love Gyoza and you made it so beautifully! I wish I have some now!

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  26. wow, i'm so impressed with your jiao zi, so beautifully done. I'm hopeless when it comes to the pleating part :)

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  27. Ya, Agreed with Lena, these gyoza look perfectly pleated. I'm hopeless when it comes to pleating gyoza. And I love to eat them with cold soba noodles too! YUMMY!

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