Gyoza!!!

If there is one dinner that gets almost everyone excited - it's gyoza!  Although a bit labor intensive, it is always worth it when you bite into the delicious meat and vegetable filled dumplings.  Gyoza are also known as pot stickers.  In Japan, where many families make their own, everyone has a different recipe.  My husband always says he doesn't have a recipe.  That is true.  He does it all by smell!  Does the meat mixture have the right balance?  His nose will tell him.  Since we've never had a batch of gyoza that wasn't eye-rolling amazing, I do not pester him with questions about specifics.  I just let him work his magic.

A while ago, I purchased gyoza wrappers from a local noodle shop.  I didn't need them right then, so I stuck them in the freezer for a rainy day.  When I saw nira (Chinese chives) at the organic produce shop, I knew my rainy day had arrived.  I purchased several other ingredients there as well: garlic, cabbage, ginger, and shitake mushrooms.  I bought ground pork from the butcher, and already had the sauces I needed.

We start by tossing cabbage into the food processor.  After processing it into very small pieces, it is put into a towel and rung out.  If you don't do this step, you will end up with soggy gyoza - which would be heartbreaking.  We also run whole garlic cloves, a chunk of ginger and the mushrooms through the food processor.  My husband grates a few more cloves of garlic and some ginger into the meat, adding soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chicken bullion.  He then mixes it thoroughly before mixing in the cabbage, mushrooms, garlic, and ginger.  He chops the nira finely and adds it to the mixture along with salt, pepper, and sesame oil.

Then the folding begins.  We've always had the rule that you must fold in order to eat.  Our son started his gyoza folding career at 2, when we just gave him a couple wrappers to play with while we folded.  It is important to include everyone!  Now at 4.5, he can keep the filling inside and even makes little creations, like his favorite "gyoza butterfly."  We had friends over for a gyoza party and their son invented gyoza butterflies.  Our son has insisted on making a couple every time we make gyoza ever since. 

Beyond the rule of everyone folding, we also have an unwritten rule that we must make enough to freeze some.  After going to all the work of making gyoza, it is so nice to have a bag of them in the freezer for when one of us starts to feel a cold coming on.  With all the garlic, ginger, and nira, it is a perfect cold defense.

After folding lots of beautiful little packages, my husband pan fries them.  Starting with a cold pan, he lays the gyoza in a flower shape (because they fit nicely that way).  He then turns on the heat and adds some water.  He quickly covers the pan to steam the meat.  Once the water has evaporated, he uncovers them to crisp them up and then flips them onto a plate. 

We dug in with enthusiasm.  This is such a gluttonous meal that we all love.  We chose to dip our gyoza into ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and la yu (chili oil).  The combination can't be beat.

Although homemade gyoza takes a bit of practice to really master, it is so worth it!