Gyoza Guo The Jiao Zi Food

JAPANESE GYOZA

Steps:

• Chop cabbage, Chinese chives, and spring onion finely and set aside.
• Remove the skin from the ginger and grate finely.
• Using a garlic mincer, mince the garlic and set aside.
• Mix the pork mince, shredded cabbage, spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
• Mix together well until they become well combined and sticky in texture.
• Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the centre of a Gyoza wrapper and fold while pinching the sides together to close the Gyoza. Use your thumbs to fold it and use your right index finger to push mince filling in (see photo or mini video if you are not familiar with this method) .
• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and place the Gyoza in the pan and brown the bottom part of the Gyoza.
• Once the Gyoza is slightly browned on the bottom, pour ¼ cup hot water into the pan to steam fry the Gyoza.
• Put a lid on the pan to steam the Gyoza and turn the heat up to high. Steam cook for about 3 minutes.
• Take the lid off and let the water evaporate. Carefully pour a little bit of sesame seed oil around the Gyoza to make the bottom turn crisp and golden brown.
• Turn off the heat and serve the Gyoza on a plate with the bottom up for best presentation.

GYOZA (GUO THE JIAO ZI)

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat the 1 tbs sesame oil and 1 tbs vegetable oil and sauté the garlic and ginger for 1 minute of medium heat.
• Add the shiitake, cabbage, chives, spring onion and tofu. Turn the heat to high and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the salt and continue to stir over high heat for a further 2-3 minutes until the excess liquid has been absorbed. Sprinkle in the corn flour and mix quickly. Transfer to a dish to cool.
• Put a teaspoon of the vegetable mixture in the centre of each wonton wrapper and moisten the edges of the wrapper with water. Fold to make a moon shape, making a few pleats to seal.
• Heat the 2 tsp sesame oil in a saucepan, then put in 10-12 gyoza. Cook both sides for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until well browned. Pour 1/4 cup water over the wontons and cook covered for 2-3 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. If necessary, remove the lid and shake the pan until all excess liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to a dish and garnish with chives. Repeats with remaining Gyoza. Serve with your preferred dipping sauce.

GYOZA

Steps:

• Put the spring onions, cabbage, ginger and garlic in a food processor, and whizz to a fine mix (or finely chop by hand).
• Add the water chestnuts and pulse to chop, but not too finely - these will add a nice crunchy texture. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sake, sesame oil and a pinch of salt, and whizz again.
• Tip the ingredients into a bowl and add the minced pork or chicken. Mix by hand until well combined. Chill until ready to use.
• Have a pot of water to hand. Sprinkle the cornflour onto a plate. To assemble the gyoza, hold the dumpling skin in the palm of one hand and put a heaped teaspoon of the filling onto the centre of the skin.
• Dip your finger in the water and wipe around the edge of the skin - this will moisten it and help the edges stick together.
• Bring the edges of the skin together. Pinch pleats along one side, then press each pleat against the opposite flat side of the skin. With each pinch make sure that you are sealing the parcel and keeping the filling in the centre. Put each gyoza onto the plate dusted with cornflour. Can be covered with cling film and chilled for up to 8 hrs.
• Cook the gyoza in batches. Heat a non-stick frying pan with 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Brush off any excess cornflour from the bases of the dumplings. Fry the gyoza on one side only - don't turn them over, you just want one crispy side. They should be golden brown after about 2 mins.
• Add a good splash of water to the pan and cover with a steaming lid or a large sheet of foil with a few holes poked in the top. Cook over a medium heat for 3-5 mins until the water has evaporated and the gyoza filling is cooked through. Set aside while you cook the rest.
• Mix all the dipping sauce ingredients and serve alongside the dumplings in dipping bowls. You can serve with both or just one dipping sauce.

PAN-SEARED GYOZA

Steps:

• Prepare the gyoza dipping sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce and rice vinegar, plus chile oil, if using. Set aside (makes a generous 1/2 cup).
• Finely chop the cabbage or process it in a food processor into confetti-size bits, then transfer it to a sieve set over a large bowl. Toss with 2 teaspoons of the salt and let sit for 20 minutes in the sink. Gently press the cabbage to squeeze out as much water as you can.
• Combine the drained cabbage, pork, ginger, garlic, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly just until everything is evenly distributed. (Don't overdo it: Too much handling and the fat in the pork will begin to melt.)
• Here's where you want to employ some extra hands to help you: Fill a small bowl with water. Sprinkle a rimmed sheet pan or two with cornstarch or potato starch to prevent the finished gyoza from sticking. For each gyoza, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the filling into the center. Use the back of the spoon to smoosh it lightly (it should fill about half the wrapper). You don't want the filling to run to the edges, but you also don't want it sitting in a fat clump in the middle. Dip your finger into the water and run it along the perimeter of one half of the wrapper. Now fold the wet edge of the wrapper over to meet the dry edge. Crimp the edges together at one corner, then proceed around the dumpling, using your finger to push the dough into little pleats on one side and pressing them against the other side to seal it. (If you need more guidance, there are hundreds of gyoza-folding videos online.) Place the gyoza on the sheet pan as you finish them. If your gyoza seem to be sticking to one another, sprinkle each layer of gyozas with potato or cornstarch.
• To pan-fry the gyoza, you will need a lidded 10-inch nonstick pan or a well-seasoned carbon steel pan. (You could also use whatever skillet you have, but increase the oil and keep a close eye on the gyoza.) Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in the pan over medium heat. When hot, add 10 to 15 gyoza, flat-side down, and cook until browned on the bottoms, 2 to 3 minutes. Add enough water to come just under a quarter of the way up the gyoza (about 1/2 cup, depending on how many gyoza you have in the pan), cover, and let the water cook away until the pan is dry and the gyoza wrappers have softened completely, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and let the gyoza crisp up on the bottoms for another minute or two, depending on how crisp you like them. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce and additional chile oil. Wipe the pan clean and cook the remaining gyoza. (Alternately, uncooked gyoza can be frozen on a baking sheet in a single layer until firm and then stored in resealable plastic bags for a couple months. To cook frozen gyoza, add a second batch of water in step 4 after the first batch evaporates.)