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The Dumpling 100 · make it at home

Pan-fried gyoza with garlic and chives

1 hr · About 30, 4 people

Japan's garlicky take on the potsticker: thin wrappers, finely chopped cabbage and chives, a crisp lacy bottom and a dip of soy, rice vinegar and chili oil.

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The real one

You need

• For the filling: 250 g (1/2 lb) ground pork
• 150 g (2 cups) cabbage, very finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt (for the cabbage)
• 40 g (1/2 cup) garlic chives (nira) or scallions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sake
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
• 30 round gyoza wrappers
• To fry: 1 tbsp neutral oil, 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) water mixed with 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp sesame oil
• For the dip: 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, a few drops of rayu (Japanese chili oil)

How to make it

1. Salt the cabbage (10 min): Toss with the salt, wait 10 minutes, squeeze dry.
2. Make the filling (5 min): Knead the pork with cabbage, chives, garlic, ginger, soy, sake, sesame oil, sugar and starch by hand for 1 minute until it holds together.
3. Wrap (20 min): Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in each wrapper, wet half the edge with water, fold and make 5 or 6 pleats along the front edge, pressing each to the back. Set flat side down on a lightly floured tray.
4. Fry (2 min): Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high, line up the gyoza in rows and fry 2 minutes until the bottoms start to brown.
5. Steam (5 min): Pour in the flour water, cover and cook over medium 4 to 5 minutes until nearly evaporated.
6. Crisp (2 min): Uncover, drizzle sesame oil around the edge and fry until the bottoms and the lacy wing are golden brown. Turn out onto a plate crisp side up.
7. Serve: Mix the dip and eat them hot, with rice and a cold beer.

Tips

• Utsunomiya-style: boil half the batch instead (sui gyoza), 4 minutes, and serve with the same dip.
• Chop the cabbage very fine; big pieces tear the thin wrappers.

Chef Amazing's own home version of gyoza, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.