Japanese gyoza differ from steamed dumplings in the base, which is fried golden before water goes into the pan and the lid comes down. The difficulty is rolling the wrappers, since slightly thick dough turns pasty and very thin dough tears as you fold.
Roll the wrappers to about 0.5mm and cut them into rounds. The filling rests in the fridge for 30 minutes so it firms up and does not weep while you fold. Fry the dumplings until the base is evenly golden, then pour in water to come halfway up and cover the pan.
This batch weighs about 1.2kg, at roughly 160 calories per 100g.
Method
Finely chop 50g of onion, 100g of napa cabbage, 70g of shiitake mushroom and 100g of garlic chives, put them in a bowl and mix them with 300g of ground pork.
Season the bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of MSG, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of minced shallot and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, then mix well. Cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
Make the wrappers: mix 250g of all purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 120ml of water, then knead until smooth. Add water if the dough is dry and flour if it is sticky. Cover the bowl and rest the dough for 15 minutes.
Dust with flour so nothing sticks, roll the dough to about 0.5mm and cut it into small rounds.
Place a little filling in the middle of each round and pleat the edge with your fingers to seal.
Arrange the dumplings in a pan, add sesame oil or cooking oil and fry at 180 degrees C. Once the base is evenly golden, pour in water to come halfway up the dumplings, cover the pan, and when the water has nearly gone, take the lid off and keep frying until the pan is dry and both faces are golden.
Mix the dipping sauce: put 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 pinch of chili powder and 1/4 tablespoon of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend into a bowl and stir well.
Tips
To skip rolling wrappers, supermarket dumpling wrappers fold and fry the same way.
When fresh shiitake mushroom is hard to find, soak dried shiitake until soft, squeeze it dry and chop it fine.
Napa cabbage should be rubbed with a little salt and squeezed so the filling does not turn wet.
Dab only a little water on the wrapper edge, since too much makes the pleats slip and burst in the pan.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.