Gyoza

I learned how to pleat gyoza from my daughter...can you believe it ? I taught her ABC and now she is teaching me how to pleat it LOL!   Now is pay back time I guess.  I was with her after Christmas and we had fun making gyoza.   Such a wonderful bonding time with her.  I do miss my kids the last 7 years when they were in college.  After end of January , I can have more time with them :)  Seriously, I can't wait to be with them again.  A time of cooking, baking and chilling out with them is what I will be looking forward to in February 2015 onwards !!!!   Sorry, my thoughts are running wild again.  Okay, back to this Gyoza or Japanese Pan Fried Dumpling/ Potstickers.   Okay, she showed me how to pleat them nicely and I grasp it and came back home , tried pleating them like a pro...Whoa...I got it right !   Thank you Piggy Jo for having the patientce to teach this old Momsie.   

this is how she pleats the dumpling.....

Gyoza or potstickers are easy to make and they are freezer friendly too

I made many and stored them in freezer so that whenever WB is hungry

I can just pan fried a few for supper !  Perfect for busy days too

the skin are store bought from Jusco   :)  when I retires in end of Jan, I

will try making my own gyoza skin  

pan fried it for a few minutes till the bottom is cooked, add some water 

and cover 1/4 of the gyoza . Cover with a lid and cooked the gyoza

till the water evaporated and the bottom is slightly golden brown.

eat with black rice vinegar and ginger shreds dips

 Gyoza / Potstickers - adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 package (or about 45) gyoza wrappers (or make Homemade Gyoza Wrappers)
• 1½ Tbsp. oil for frying each batch of gyoza
• ¼ cup water for frying each batch of gyoza
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil for frying each batch of gyoza

Filling

• 10 oz (290 g) ground pork
• 2-3 (140 g, 5 oz) cabbage leaves
• 1-2 (15 g, 0.5 oz) green onion/scallion  * I used chinese chives
• 2 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. grated ginger

Seasonings

• ½ Tbsp. sake
• ½ Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• ¼ tsp. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Dipping Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. black rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• young ginger shreds

Method:

Mix all fillings  and seasoning ingredients together in a bowl and keep stirring with a pair of chopsticks till the mixture is sticky. Leave aside.

Wrap the fillings with gyoza wrappers.  Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place the gyoza in a single layer, flat side down (in two rows or in a circular shape). 

When the bottom of the gyoza turns golden brown, add ¼ cup of water to the pan.

Immediately cover with a lid and steam the gyoza for about 2 minutes or until most of the water evaporates.

Remove the lid to evaporate any remaining water. Add sesame oil and cook uncovered until the gyoza is nice and crisp on the bottom. Transfer to a plate. For the gyoza lined up in circular shape, place a serving plate on top of the pan and quickly flip.

1. For the dipping sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a small plate and mix all together. Serve the gyoza with dipping sauce.

* Notes

After you wrap gyoza, cook or freeze it right away; otherwise water from the ingredients will start to make the wrapper wet.

To save gyoza for later, put the gyoza on a baking sheet leaving some space between to keep them from sticking, and put it in freezer. Transfer frozen gyoza into a freezer bag and store in freezer up to a month. When you use frozen gyoza, do not defrost. Cook while they are frozen.

Enjoy!