GYOZA BASICALLY IS A JAPANESE WONTON

Today's recipe is the Gyoza, a Japanese style dumpling. Basically a Japanese wonton. Every culture has a dumpling right? I guess you could say us Filipinos have the lumpia as our dumpling, of course that's fried. Gyoza can be steamed, fried, and put into a bowl of broth, or some ramen. So it's a pretty well versed food stuff. Haha! Whatever, I'm _____ing tired man! Like I'm getting paid to do this blog? I wanna sleep, it's 10:44 in Hawaii.


Gyoza needs a wrapper, so what is this wrapper made of? Easy, it is made with all purpose flour, water, and salt. Hey that's pretty much the standard retail wonton wrappers. Shit just use those. Or shit use the mandu wrappers if you like. I don't make em, I just buy em. I mean seriously? C'mon folks, God made them ready to use, why would you want to go to all the trouble in making a mess in the kitchen? I mean, that's leverage. God created man, and he created vehicles. Would you catch a bus or a taxi to the airport, or you would rather walk? I think you feel me on this one. Get off your chef high horse and be like the rest of us. Buy the shit! OK- make em then. But hey you are cleaning the place up, I'm not! Just because I ate a dozen fucking gyoza does not mean I'm Mr. Clean.

OK- you purchased some gyoza wrappers, or wonton wrappers, a package usually will yield anywhere from 40-50 something gyoza.

INGREDIENTS

1 Package gyoza wrappers

Gyoza wrappers come in different packaging, with different brands on the market

Filling:
1 cup of shredded and finely chopped cabbage
1 tsp. of salt
1 lb. of lean ground pork
1/2 bunch garlic chives finely chopped
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water and finely chopped
1 tbsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil (You will need some for cooking)
Dash of salt

Dipping Sauce:
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. water
3 tbsp. rice vinegar
Sriracha

Directions:
1. Take the finely chopped cabbage, place in a small bowl, add 1 tsp. of salt, and massage the cabbage until all the salt is rubbed in well. Let stand 10 minutes. Squeeze with your hands to remove any moisture.

2. Place cabbage, ground pork, chives, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl and mix well.

3. Make sure your hands are dried, take one gyoza wrapper, and place a teaspoon of filling mixture in the center of the wrapper, and then wet the edges and fold, crimping for a seal. (If you are using square wonton wrappers, no problem.)

* Try to make the bottoms flat, because each dumpling will rest on the pan with some sesame oil, and water. You want the bottom to act as a base for each dumpling.

4. Place a large frying pan (12"-14") nonstick is good. On medium-high heat, add 2-3 tbsp. of sesame oil. Place about 25 or half of the filled gyoza into the hot pan, searing the bottoms. Then add in about 1/2 a cup of water, and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for about 6 minutes or until the water evaporates. Uncover the pan, and cook for about 1 minute. The bottoms will get crispy. Continue to cook the rest of the dumplings.

5. Mix the sauce ingredients together, including some Sriracha if desired.

The photo on the bottom is used for the purpose of showing the reader of this post what the cooked gyoza looks like. The recipe is standard and does not belong to Ichiban Sushi & Tapioca.

ICHIBAN SUSHI & TAPIOCA

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