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Gyoza/pot-sticker is one of those bites which once you take the first, you cannot stop. It really is not difficult to make, except that it takes time to wrap each dumpling. Which reminds me… I was in Chinatown, and went to a restaurant for a quick, late lunch. There was a Chinese woman, an employee, seated at the table closest to the kitchen. She had a big tray, a stack of pot-sticker skins and a large bowl of fillings in front of her. She was wrapping pot-stickers as quickly as 5 seconds each and filled the tray. Every 5 minutes, someone from the kitchen came to take the filled tray and put an empty one in front of her. Although I am now comfortable with wrapping, it still takes me 30~40 seconds each.
The Japanese word gyōza was derived from the reading of giaozi 餃子 in the Shandong Chinese dialect and is written using the same Chinese characters/Kanji and pronounced the Japanese way.
The most prominent differences between Japanese-style gyōza and Chinese-style giaozi are the rich garlic flavor, which is less noticeable in the Chinese version, the light seasoning of Japanese gyōza with salt and soy sauce, and the fact that gyōza wrappers are much thinner. The most popular preparation method is the pan-fried/’browned’ style (only the bottom) called yaki-gyōza, crispy, soft, juicy, flavorful, all in one bite. Yum!
The most common recipe is a mixture of minced pork, cabbage, nira/garlic chives, garlic, ginger, sesame oil soy-sauce, salt and ground black pepper, which are then wrapped into thinly rolled dough skins. Gyōza are usually served with soy-sauce based tare/dipping sauce, seasoned with rice vinegar and rāyu/chili oil (làyóu 辣油 in Chinese). This is a recipe for a vegan yaki-gyoza, with an option, if you like to add meat.
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Yaki Gyoza • やきギョーザ • Pot-Stickers, Japanese Style
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
For the filling
• 150 g/ 1 piece atsu-age tofu (thick, deep fried tofu)**
• 100 g/ 3.5 oz cabbage, about 2 ~ 3 leaves, finely chopped
• 70 g/ 2.5 oz nira/garlic chives (or leak, or scallions), finely chopped/sliced
• 2 shiitake mushrooms, medium size, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp potato starch (needed for binding)
• 1 tsp garlic, mashed
• 1 tsp ginger, grated/puréed
• 1 Tbsp soy-sauce
• 1½ tsp Asian sesame oil
• 1 tsp soup base, vegetable base for vegan (sorry, not in the ingredient photo)
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• salt, to taste, and to adjust accordingly, if soup base has salt or soy-sauce is low sodium
**If preferred to make it authentic, with meat, replace tofu with ground pork or ground chicken plus 50g/2oz minced onion.
• 32 sheets pot-sticker skins/wrapper
For steaming/frying pot stickers
• boiling water
• vegetable oil
For the dipping sauce
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
And, choice of adding a little hot spice
• rāyu/chili oil, to taste
• neri-karashi/Japanese mustard, to taste
DIRECTIONS
◊ First, slice/cut the crusts of the tofu. Mince the crust finely. Then tear white part of tofu into small pieces.
◊ In a medium bowl, add all ingredients for the filling. First, the vegetables, then sprinkle the corn starch and then remaining ingredients. Using hand, knead the mixture well.
◊ Have a small bowl with water ready, needed for wrapping. Put a sheet of pot-sticker skin in your palm. Dip a finger in the water and wet all around the edge of the wrap. Place 1 tsp of filling in the center of the wrap. Fold the wrap and pleat only one side of the wrap and press to the flat other side (5~6 pleats). Watch this 30 second video for a quick tutorial → here.
◊ For the dipping sauce: Combine soy-sauce and vinegar and pour into small, shallow dipping bowls. Have them ready.
◊ Place the pot-sticker in a non-stick fry-pan. Pour boiling water from the side to fill half way up the pot-stickers, and put on medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil, place a lid on and let cook for 5~6 minutes, until the water has totally evaporated. Remove lid and let bottoms of the pot-stickers brown. Carefully watch the pot-stickers as they quickly brown. If burned, becomes wasted effort.
◊ With a spatula, scoop up pot-stickers (if stuck to each other, scoop intact) and place on the serving dish by flipping the spatula, to have the browned bottom side facing up. Serve warm.
◊ To have an accent color on the serving plates, I add cherry tomatoes and fried shishito.
~ どうぞめしあがれ • Douzo Meshiagare ~
Above photo, ↑ left back, there is an atsu-age tofu on a plate. I placed it there so you know what to look for in stores. Right in front of it is minced atsu-age tofu for the filling.
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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I love the idea of adding age tofu! I’ll try that next time. They’re all folded so perfectly, too. I need to practice some more haha
Hi Elle, As they say, practice makes it perfect. In this case, after couple of folds, you get the hang of it. Age tofu is a good addition for vegan. 🙂
I would love to make these!
I made these tasty filled beauties & it was fun making them too. I made them with my husband Peter. We loved making them & eating them too! xxx
Oh, thank you very much! How lovely to cook with your husband. I’m so glad that you enjoyed making them and eating them. 🙂
Oh Fae I took some time off after the birth of my baby and during this time you came with amazing recipes… these gyoza, the matcha roll, the cheese buns from Brazil… how can I catch up with all this amazing food?!!
Good to see you back, Margherita! Congratulations for the birth of your Precious One!!! When you have a Treasure to look after, who cares about cooking.
Thank you for the kind words. I am looking forward to your fabulous creations from your kitchen! 🙂
These look so good. I have to try them
It would be a fun project. Enjoy! 🙂
I really need to try and make pot stickers sometime–these look so good!
Especially, the browned, crispy, Japanese style is the way to go! 🙂
Fae, I love potstickers and yours look fantastic. A great post and I hope to make the potstickers soon.
Thank you, Gerlinde! 🙂
Wow Fae – these are SO professional looking! What a beautiful job. And look, I can comment now without any issues!! 😉
Yay, you were able to leave a comment. Thank you for the kind comment. I try. 😀 )))
Very skillfully done, the gyoza look irresistible! I prefer the vegan version!
Thank you, Gerard. I’m glad that you like the vegan version. It really is not hard to make. Enjoy! 🙂
Lovely post, Fae! Pot stickers are one of my favourite things ever; Yum!
Hi Deborah! They really are fun and delicious. 😛
Fae, amazing as usual! These look so perfect, delicate and delicious.
Thank you, Sweet Homa joun! Yes, they are so much fut to eat! 🙂
Your Yaki Gyoza look super delicious. I will have to make these, plus now I know how to use chopsticks Fae! 🙂
Yay! You know how to use chopsticks! Yes, you would love using your chopsticks, dip the gyoza into the dipping sauce and enjoy! 🙂
Fae, these gyoza sound wonderful. I love that they are meatless, and yet packed with flavors and textures; what a beautiful crunchy bottom! I used to count how much I would serve to each person, but now I just make a whole batch, and we will eat the whole thing until there is nothing left. Why bother with portions? Gyoza are absolutely addictive! Especially home-made ones like yours!
Thank you, Sweet Darya! Yes, it is the crunchy part that makes ‘yaki’ gyoza special. Also, the dipping sauce is ‘very’ important. I always wonder if it is the taste of the dipping sauce that makes them so addictive. 😀 )))
Thanks for the background anecdote about culture and history! Eating a tasty food like gyoza is wonderful, and learning the culture behind the food is an extra bonus.
Hi Chris, I’m glad you enjoyed reading. To me,gyoza is another fun food! 🙂
So excited to see Gyoza here today Fae! Love, love, love them, but have never made them myself before – will be trying this for sure! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Margot! Once you get used to the wrappers, it really is a quick dish. Enjoy!
Oh, yummy! I love these! Thanks for the vegan version. I will have to try them–I don’t know think mine will be as pretty as yours though. 🙂
Oh Merril, of course yours are going to be pretty, and maybe prettier than mine. Yes, aren’t they good! 🙂
I wish your pot stickers were cooking in my kitchen right now! I love these and you did such a beautiful job of forming them. Thanks for the tutorial on pleating them!
Thank you so much, Judi! It is a quick meal really. Add your twist to the ingredients and treat your loved ones. 🙂
I love these but have only had them in the UK. Here in France I can’t get anything like the wrappers so I’ll have to do some hunting online. Pictures are lovely and the gyozas look great!
Hi Amanda, Thank you very much for liking them. If you are up to making the wrappers yourself, here is a good recipe. 🙂
I love potstickers and these are getting pinned! 🙂
Hi Virginia, Put a twist to the ingredients that your family would like and treat them! It really is easy to make. 🙂
I just love gyoza and love this recipe. Your gyoza are just perfect. The filling sounds delicious I haven’t made in a long time and want to try these.
Hello, Hello Sweet Suzanne! I hadn’t made gyoza for a long time either, craved for it, and voilà! I thought to make it vegan to accommodate vegetarian/vegan Readers. <3
Absolutely fabulous. My kind of pot stickers!❤️
Yes, with ingredients that please everyone! 🙂
You pleated them so well Fae.They look fabulous Are they the same as Momos. Though momos are traditionally steamed in baskets.
I did not know what momos were until your this comment. According to Wikipedia > Momo is a type of dumpling native to Tibet, traditionally filled with yak meat and eaten with a variety of sauces. It is similar to Chinese baozi and jiaozi, Mongolian buuz, Japanese gyoza, Turkic mantu and Korean mandu. < I think the ingredients in them, and sauce they are dipped in give them all these different names. But I am not sure if any of them is browned like these yaki gyoza. 🙂
Fae, how did you know I was craving these 😀 I absolutely love Gyoza, the crispy bits on the outside, the delicious savory fillings on the inside!! Heaven! Pinning this to try out at the earliest! Thank you!
Oh, I ‘m so glad you like them. They are so much fun. I love fun food. 🙂
Fae…these are so beautiful…I will give them a try, but I have a sneaking suspicion, they will not come out like yours.
I wasn’t good to start with either. Believe me, very quickly, practice makes it perfect. 😀 )))
Fae – these are fabulous, I am going to try them and I already know someone who would love the recipe too!
Hello, Hello Darling Maria, Gyoza is so good, and really not difficult at all. Once you get comfortable with the wrapping, the rest is simple. I made a vegan one here, but it is even better with meat.