Gyoza (Chinese Pot Stickers)

I have had a love affair with Gyoza for many years. I first tasted them in Modesto, California. I loved the perfect little Chinese dumpling spiked with ginger and steamed, then fried crispy on one side. In the Chinese restaurant they served them with red chili oil and vinegar along with soy sauce.

In California it was easy to get them in restaurants or even buy a large frozen bag of potstickers at Costco. But once I was living in foreign countries I could only dream of their deliciousness. So I came up with a way to make them myself using my Italian grandmothers ravioli dough recipe! So while living in Colombia, South America, a few of us “western” girls would get together and go through the labor intensive work of making ravioli dough, rolling it out, then forming the little gyoza. How happy it made us to enjoy a taste from home. Later while venturing out into the big Metropolitan city of Bogota we found a little Asian restaurant that served all types of Asian foods including Gyoza! Thats where we learned to eat them sautéed with roasted garlic and red bell pepper. What an excellent addition that was! I still remember sitting in the modern looking asian restaurant situated on a beautiful cobblestone square lit with candlelight in Bogota blissfully nibbling on the fragrant Gyoza.

I am very happy that it is not so difficult to make Gyoza here in Italy because it is so easy (and cheap!) to buy a sheet of fresh egg pasta that works perfectly with the Gyoza. I only have to make up the filling (as quick and fast as making meatballs) to make up the gyoza dumplings.

You can order gyoza in Chinese restaurants here in Italy, they call them Ravioli Cinesi (Chinese Raviolis) Which always sounds funny to me, yet that is exactly what they are: Chinese Raviolis!

Whatever you call them: Potstickers, Gyoza or Chinese Raviolis, they are delicious and a welcome addition to a diverse “world friendly” kitchen.

You can watch a video of me making these Gyoza on my Instagram account TheHomesteadTraveler, look under the “stories” at the top and select “recipes”

Pot Stickers (Chinese Dumplings or Gyoza)

1 recipe pasta dough (In Italy I buy a fresh sheet of pasta like you would use for Lasagna, in America you can buy wonton wrappers of make the dough yourself.

Pasta Recipe:

2 eggs

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients together and knead until elastic (add a few teaspoons of water if needed) or until the dough springs back when you poke it. Allow it to rest covered with a damp towel. Cut in half and roll out the pasta until it is the thickness of a dime, use a drinking glass to cut out circles much like sugar cookies. You can roll out each circle a little thinner if you want it bigger.

Filling:

1 pound ground pork

1 cup finely shredded cabbage

1 section peeled and minced ginger (approximately one inch section)

1 clove garlic peeled and minced

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoons sesame oil

Instructions:

Mix together all ingredients together with your hands, nice and squishy like, just like making meat balls!

If you need to make your own pasta, prepare the dough recipe and roll it out very thin, as thin as you can get it.

Fill each square of pasta (about 4″ x 4″) with a small spoonful of the pork filling. Place the filling close to one side of the edge of sheet pasta, not in the middle because you will fold the pasta over the filling like an envelope containing a precious package. Then working with each individual gyoza you will moisten the inside edges of the pasta with a little water in your finger tip or use a pastry brush. Keep a little bowl of water near your working surface. Then fold or pleat the edges of the gyoza and trim the pasta to form a simi circle.

I usually freeze part of the batch because it is a little labor intensive and the frozen gyoza will be a welcome treat for a quick meal after you get home from a busy day. I freeze them in a large rectangular container with a sheet of wax paper between each single layer of gyoza so they don’t stick together and form one solid frozen mass.

Prepare a large pan of boiling water and drop the gyoza into the gently boiling water. They are done when they float to the top, usually about 5-10 minutes.

Prepare a large skillet with a generous amount of oil, just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet. Sauté the gyoza on both sides. I like them to be a little browned on one side, but be careful that they don’t stick to the pan.

Sometimes I like to sauté a few whole cloves of garlic and a diced red bell pepper along with some red chili pepper flakes in the oil BEFORE I sauté the gyoza. Then I remove the garlic and red pepper mixture to another small bowl while reserving the oil that is now infused with garlic and chili. I fry the gyoza in this oil and then add the garlic and red peppers back into the gyoza right before serving. It adds a beautiful presentation and is delicious! We learned this technique when dining on a beautiful cobblestone Street in Bogota, Colombia.

We also love both dipping sauces, we usually dip in one then in the other, we learned this from a restaurant in Modesto, California.

Dipping Sauce #1:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1″ section peeled and minced ginger

1 clove peeled and minced garlic

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Mix all ingredients together in little bowl

Dipping Sauce #2

4 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon Sriracha Hot sauce or other Asian hot sauce made from red chili’s

Mix together