Gyoza! ぎょうざ！
A couple of days ago, I decided to brave the morning sunlight and make another batch of gyoza(s) with the leftover filling I had from my previous gyoza batch. It’s taken a month but I’ve managed to stay in my apartment for days at a time without getting into a boredom induced fit. It’s not that hard because once you’ve blown your money on 4 pairs of shoes in a span of 6 days, you don’t really have much of a choice, do you now?
The point is I’ve been cooped up in my room for most of the week, staying in bed as I befriend the stark, reclusive darkness of my room while watching movies on my macbook sans the greasy buttered popcorn. My cinematic adventures came to a standstill when my external HDD (hard disk drive, for you non-tech folk) choked on a deluxe movie hotdog (I think it was all the sauerkraut) and died. I think I must have died too because my life was in that external HDD- every single image I’d taken for tea noir was stored in there (and in HQ no less), my web design work, my portfolio, other bits of random shit – all equally precious to me.
It’s the perfect murder actually – the best way to kill someone is to commit tech murder. Get rid of a person’s computer and all forms of back-up he/she may possibly have and watch in glee as they quietly drown in their own desolate pool of tears. And maybe I shouldn’t have typed this slightly morbid paragraph, I don’t want the possibility of fueling a tech murder rage lol.
Disclaimer: I won’t be held responsible for any tech murders happening from this moment on kthxbai.
Afraid your computer would crash? It used to be so simple: Get an external HDD, back up everything and sleep comfortably at night knowing your files are safe from any impending virus attack. Of course, if you had a Mac in the first place, the possibility of getting hit by a virus is close to a zero so why not just save yourself a 2-3 years of misery with an unattractive Windows comp and get something snazzy off Apple.com? 8D Sadly we now live in an age where we need to get a BACK-UP FOR OUR BACK-UP; getting one external HDD just doesn’t cut it anymore, you gotta have at least two ._.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Steve Jobs and Apple Inc- yeahhhh dassright dassright bb, I’m just one of those regular Mac snobs Windows lovers are accustomed to hate. Don’t worry tho, even if you are a Windows user, I don’t choose my friends based on their preferred operating systems lol (look at Nadz, she’s a Windows fan and she’s still alive lol) so I’d love you just the same – pinky promise! ;D
OKAY BACK TO THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS ENTRY: Yes! Gyoza! They look difficult to make but don’t be deceived by their fancy crimped edges: if a klutz like Nadz can make them – you can too! (LOL I’m sorry cousin, I know I’m name-dropping you excessively in this entry but know that I love you bbcakes <3) They're extremely versatile too, you can fill them up with almost everything you want (provided the combo tastes good, don't be daft and start thinking of chocolate, prawn and beetroot gyozas please) I've been making gyoza for two years now and they make such a good + cheap meal if you make a lot and freeze them all.
I’ve got a little prawn, minced chicken and cabbage thing going on thar.
This recipe makes about 60+ gyozas
Ingredients
250g minced chicken meat
300g prawns, chopped into pieces
5-6 cabbage leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons of minced garlic and ginger (I use a pre-bottled minced garlic and ginger mix I found at the Asian supermarket)
Soy sauce (don’t have any real measurements, I guess most of the time lol..maybe 5 tablespoons?)
Sesame oil (again, no real measurements. Use about 1 tablespoon? If you love sesame oil like me, use more!)
2 packets Gyoza skins
1. Make the gyoza filling! In a large bowl, combine minced meat, cabbage, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Mix them together with your hands.
That’s right, get in touch with nature – USE YOUR HANDS. Mix them until the ingredients seem to stick with each other and won’t fall apart.
2. Spoon about a teaspoon of filling in the middle of your gyoza skin and moisten the edges of the gyoza skin with some water.
3. Start crimping, honey. Now this is the stumbling block for a lot of people because it’s pretty much the hardest part about making gyoza but it gets really easy once you get the hang of it.
I’m not going to go into the minute details pertaining to crimping the gyoza because there’s an excellent step by step picture tutorial here that’s guaranteed to make you a GYOZA CRIMPIN’ MASTER in no time.
I’m not a purist so I cheat and use any round, white chinese dumpling skin I can get my hands on – They’re the same thing. I like making gyozas on my chopping board, it’s the only flat surface I have available. The white atomic clouds you see aren’t a rare form of mould – it’s plain flour. I like freezing my gyoza after I’m done making them and the flour prevents them from sticking to the board once they’re frozen.
Remember less is more. Be a scrooge, you have to be economical with the filling of each gyoza or crimping is going to be a bitch.
My little gyoza minions ready to be frozen/cooked!
In the pan! You sorta fry the bottoms first til they’re crisp and then you dump about 1/3 cup of water in to steam the tops. More details on the cooking technique here.
What do you do when they’re all cooked? Make some dipping sauce, of course!
Fancy Gyoza Dipping Sauce!
50ml soy sauce or enough to fill a small dipping bowl (ooh real measurements now)
1 teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
some chopped spring onionsMix well and happy dipping!
Enjoy! If you have any questions, ask away in the comments!
Back to my external HDD, in a fit of moral panic I texted my dad and he said it might just be a problem with the casing/enclosure of the HDD so I went to get a new one for my still breathing HDD and it’s fixed now YAY! Sorry you had to read such a long rant (this could possibly be my longest entry yet lol) Have a good weekend, everyone! <3
yum! these look so professionally done! Also, your photos are lovely – what camera do you use?
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July 18th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Thank you! And nahh, they’re not as perfect as the ones you can get at posh restaurants but I suppose they would do haha!
I’m glad you like my photos, I use a Nikon D90
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Ah, this is an absolute delight! Your gyozas look soooo good *drools*
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July 18th, 2010 at 11:59 am
If you can, take a break from all the wondrous baking you do and try this ;D
Thank you <3
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OMG LOL Ilyana you are HILARIOUS! You should write more entries because you always make me laugh. =P
The gyoza recipe looks amazing! I’m actually supposed to make dumplings with a friend soon. Definitely going to use your sauce recipe.
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July 18th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
THANKS CAT <3 Well I try my best lol but er I’m sorry you had to read such a long entry :/ I honestly think it’s rubbish – I just corrected THREE grammar mistakes 10 mins ago and I’m sure I’ll find more lol.
Ooh dumplings sound good! Take a photo and post it up
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haha me?? what about you and your delicious looking chinese turn jap looking currypuff. i wanna try to do it tomorrow–wonder whether can put chilli in it. or put kimchi in it.
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July 18th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Yes you, you and you ;p Well, I guess we’re even now lol.
Omg take photos when you’re done! also a tip I learnt from my pretend husband Jamie Oliver: Cook a small teaspoon of filling in a pan before you actually make the gyozas so you can taste it and adjust the soy sauce/garlic accordingly!
Kimchi dumplings sound amazing, I think I’ll try that next time
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You need to stop tweeting about Gyozas! I’ve never had the Japanese ones and you’re making me drool
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July 18th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
You should try them at a good Japanese restaurant, they’re really yummeh :3
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Dawg these are ssooo cute!! I make the same dipping sauce, except I usually use some chili oil instead of sesame
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July 21st, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Dude I love the chili oil version too!
but they’re expensive here so I just stick with the sesame.
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Oooh! Gyoza~! Yummy! Wow, your crimping is amazing! ;D Haha. I canNOT crimp gyoza that well. Haha, I totally suck at it.
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July 21st, 2010 at 9:52 pm
HAHA what you don’t see in the photos are my FAIL gyozas. I took a while to get the hang of the crimping business this time because I haven’t made gyozas in half a year so I kinda forgot how to do it..you should have seen my first few attempts lol, anyone would’ve laughed!
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dude reading this made me crave gyoza so much so I got off my butt and made some (made meaning reheating some premade Costco gyoza, but they were really yummy and came with a good dipping sauce). your crimping skills are scarily good and omg I know. my old computer crashed and I hadn’t backed it up so I lost EVERYTHING. major headache. Now I have everything backed up to an external hard drive, but I’m starting to wonder if I should back that up too…
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July 21st, 2010 at 9:55 pm
OMG YOU GUYS HAVE COSTCO PREMADE GYOZA?! That is not unfair omg, so jealous lol. The premade gyozas here are incredibly expensive and I have no idea what’s in them so I generally just stay away.
Aww *pats pats* just be careful not to drop the external hdd!
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Ahhh you make your gyoza so beautifully! I feel like such a fail Asian–I tried my hand at making wontons a couple of months ago and uh, let’s just say that we eventually gave up. As long as they’re edible, who cares what shape they’re in. ;D
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July 21st, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Lol don’t worry, I failed terribly when I first started out making gyozas – you are def not alone. Anywho, wow wontons, I’ve never tried lol. Are they more complicated to make? ;D
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July 22nd, 2010 at 12:17 am
They’re harder to make than dumplings, since you have to hold your fingers a certain way and then wrap over/around that shape. I can’t seem to do it withour breaking the skin, so after my 10th one I just cheated and started folding them like envelopes, haha. XD
My friends made a big fat momma wonton though; we had a huge amount of meat left and only 2 skins, so they just sandwiched the meat between the two skins whole.
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OMG your photos make the gyoza look like works of art! haha! They look delectable!!! XD
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July 21st, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Lol why thank you Amy! I love reading your American vacation entries, keep them coming <3
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Guuuh, your gyozas are such beauties! Mine pales in comparison *SNIFF*
Thank goodness your father is such a pro! =] My father will go ‘stop crying, go buy a new one’ LOL
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Hello there. ‘Stumbled’ upon your site and saw this recipe on gyoza! So I made them just now and I had to say “YES Crimping is Definitely a Bitch for 1st timers like myself!” Yours look so pretty. Hope more practice makes it perfect for me. I got mine in yellow round dumpling skin so they look like wanton-gyoza lol! I haven’t steamed them yet just let them freeze up.
Ok sorry for the Blabbering, My Question : is it ok to Deep-fry them? or better to fry/steam like your recipe?
Awaiting your reply.
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November 27th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Hey Liz! Thank you for reading ;D
Yeah, crimping gets easier once you’ve tried it a couple of times. I remember my first batch was disastrous lol. Anyway, I haven’t actually tried deep-frying them but I suppose you can try cooking a few gyozas that way just to see if it tastes good?
If it’s not as delicious as you think it would be, there’s always the fry/steam method to fall back on. Good luck!
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