Easy Gyoza - Japanese Pork Dumplings

Step 1

Place the pork mince, chopped cabbage, spring onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, sugar and garlic salt into a large mixing bowl. Add any extra seasonings to your taste, such as optional spoonful of red miso paste if you’re including it. Mix with your hands until the ingredients are nicely combined.

Step 2

Take a gyoza wrapper in one hand and top with a spoonful of filling into the centre (around 1 tbsp, but adjust to suit the size of your wrappers if needed). Using your finger, dab a small amount of water all around the edge of the wrapper. This will be your glue.

Step 3

For the authentic gyoza wrapper shape - begin by folding the wrapper over the filling to make a semicircle, then pinch one corner with your fingers to seal. Gather more of the wrapper and overlap your first section slightly to make a dart, then pinch gently to seal. Continue until the gyoza is fully sealed (about 4 darts), then repeat for your remaining gyoza. Alternatively you can use a dumpling press to make this process easier.

Step 4

For an easier fold - If you don’t want to do the more traditional darts / pleated folds, you can do a simple straight edge instead. Just fold the wrappers over and seal into a half moon shape. Then pick them up and then tap the straight edge on your work surface to create the flat ‘bottom’ for frying.

Step 5

Heat the sesame oil in a large flat frying pan. Add the gyoza and fry on a high heat until the bottoms turn a toasty golden brown (1-2 mins).

Step 6

Reduce the heat to low and add around 1/4 cup water into the pan. Be careful – the oil will spit if it’s too hot. Be ready to use the frying pan lid as a shield. Cover and steam the gyoza on low heat until all the water has evaporated and the gyoza are cooked through (around 2-3 mins).

Step 7

Choose your favourite from the above ingredients list (or why not do both?). Add all ingredients for your chosen sauce into a small dipping bowl, give it a stir and serve alongside your freshly cooked gyoza dumplings.