Dumplings are literally my favourite things to eat at the moment. Bite sized morsels of amazingly juicy and savoury deliciousness are just the best things ever. I cook them a lot. They’re great for Saturday nights in on the sofa to enjoy with a good film.

I will post a few different types, but gyozas are something special. You’ve probably eaten these out before, but making them at home is fantastic. Cheap to make and once you’ve got the hang of it, I find it’s rather therapeutic.

 

Ok, so my recipe might not be the 100% authentic Gyoza recipe, but this filling can be used to fill and make loads of types of dumpling. You can add some chopped cabbage if you have some in, or even water chestnuts to add a nice crunch – it’s rather versatile.

You can make your own pastry for the dumpling skins, as it’s just flour and water, but go to your local Chinese supermarket and stock up on these from the freezer section. They only take an hour or so to defrost and are soo so handy to have in, so you can knock up these little mouthfuls of joy when you want. I also but the large bags of frozen prawns from the Chinese supermarket too, as you can take out how many you need to defrost.

 

 

Recipe (makes around 20)

1 pack of gyoza skins (defrost the whole pack, use as many as you need, refreeze the rest

250g pork mince

8 large raw tiger prawns, minced

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2 leaves of Chinese cabbage, finely shredded

 1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp of freshly grated ginger

1 tbsp corn flour

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Chinese black vinegar to serve

Put all the ingredient in a bowl with some seasoning and mix well until thoroughly combined. Lay out your gyoza skins and put 1 large tsp of mix in the centre of each skin. Have a little cup of water next to you and with your finger, run some water around the edge of the skin. Pick up the wrapper with the filling, fold in half, and from the left to the right, fold the pastry side closet to you to make pleats/folds in the pastry (see the image to get an idea). It will take a few tries to perfect, but you will get there! Set aside on a plate, sprinkled with the corn flour. The cornflour will help to create a crispy bottom on the dumpling.

Next, heat up a large frying pan which has a lid. Add the vegetable oil and then put the dumplings in, pleats up. Let these cook until they get brown and crispy on the bottom. Once crispy, add in 250ml of water. This should splutter and sizzle. Put the lid on straight away to seal in the steam. Let cook for 10 minutes and until the water has evaporated away. Remove the lid and lift a dumpling up to check they are brown and crispy. Serve on a platter with some black vinegar for dipping. YUM.