Homemade Gyoza |

Just a year ago I never would have thought I’d tackle something like homemade gyoza. For one thing, they’re not from my cultural background (they’re Japanese, I’m Italian) so I didn’t grow up eating them/watching them be made; and secondly, from a distance they seem complicated.

Enter Candice Kumai, my celebrity chef crush of the moment. Candice is an entertaining, bubbly, California-raised chef who loves to make healthy, delicious (or sexy, as she often says) food. A girl after my own…stomach. I ordered her cookbook, “Pretty Delicious” a little while ago and I’ve been cooking up a variety of tasty, healthy dishes that I would have thought were too complicated for my amateur skills. Her gyoza recipe was just too tantillizing not to attempt. I’m so happy I did, and I encourage you to do the same! Candice decreases the unhealthy with her gyoza by “freaming” (her word) half frying and half steaming. The technique helps reduce calories and fat.

Turns out cultural foods are more similar than I realized which dawned on me when I explained to my Italian Nonna that gyoza are like a Japanese ravioli…she loved them by the way!

Recipe – Mom’s Homemade Gyoza [from Candice Kumai’s cookbook, “Pretty Delicious”]

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

Scallions sliced on the diagonal

Gyoza:

1 lb 96% Lean Ground Beef ( I used ground turkey breast)

5 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for 5min, drained & chopped

(I didn’t have dried, so I used fresh)

5 scallions, finely chopped

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

3 large green cabbage leaves, finely chopped (I subbed bagged, shredded, purple cabbage)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce ( I might try Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s next time)

2 Tb Dark Sesame Oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Fresh Grated Ginger ( I loved this! I wish I had added more!!)

Flour for dusting surface

30 Round Wonton Skins – about 1/2 the package

6 tsp Veg oil

To make the sauce: Whisk the soy sauce and vinegar together in a small dish. Add the scallions and set aside.

To make the gyoza: Mix the ground beef, mushrooms, scallions, onion, cabbage, and garlic together in a large bowl. ( I needed to use up some bell pepper before it went bad, so I added that in as well). Whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and sugar together in a small bowl. Add the soy sauce mixture to the beef mixture and stir together until combined.

Sprinkle a work surface with some flour. Place a small bowl of warm water next to your work area. Place a wonton wrapper on the floured area and place 2 teaspoons of the beef mixture in the center. (I had some trouble with this part. My wontons weren’t fitting all the meat! So I had to use a little less. It takes practice, but it’s worth it!) Dip a finger in the warm water and moisten the edges of the wrapper, then fold the wrapper over the filling as if you were making a turnover. Press the edges together. Use your index finger and thumb to pinch the edges so they have a cute ruffled look like the edge of a pie crust. Set aside and repeat with the rest of the filling and wrappers.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of veg oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add about 10 gyoza to the pan and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, about 1-2 min. When peaking under the gyoza to check for browning, be gentle! They are very fragile. Add 1/4 cup of water to the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook without turning until the wrappers are translucent, about 2 min. Uncover and cook until the water has evaporated and the filling is cooked through, about 2-3 min longer.

Remove the pan from the heat. Pour any liquid remaining in the pan into a bowl. Place a large plate over the skillet, the plate should be larger than the skillet, and flip the pan over. The gyoza should effortlessly fall from pan to plate revealing their gorgeous, golden brown skins. Gyoza taste best when hot, so serve immediately with the dipping sauce as you cook up the next batch. Cook 2 more batches, adding a tiny bit more oil as needed and 1/4 cup water for each batch. Wipe out the skillet between batches if necessary.