About the Recipe
You might think my claim that these are the best vegetable gyoza you will ever eat as over-egged but try them out and you might well change your mind. Even if you don't consider them as good as my claim, I think you will agree that they beat most restaurant vegetable gyoza by a long way. *tips
Don’t leave the freshly made gyoza for a long time or keep in a fridge as the fillings are watery and the wrappers get stuck together. Making 50 gyoza at a time might seem a ittle daunting but watch the video to understand the wrapping technique and you'll soon be turning them out like a pro! If you don't want to cook all your vegetable gyoza in one go, you can make them and them pop them in the freezer for another day. Don't refridgerate though as the filling will make the gyoza skins soggy and they won't cook well.
Ingredients
(makes approximately 50 vegetable gyoza)
2 cloves garlic
2 cm / 1/2 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
50g chinese cabbage
3 spring onions
60g baby spinach
300g firm tofu
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
a little pepper
1 tbsp plain flour
1 pack frozen gyoza wrapper (50 wrappers per pack), defrosted
some plain flour for dusting some plates
2-3 tbsps sunflower oil for frying
a small bowl or small cup of water (about 30-40ml)
for the dipping sauce (for 4 servings):
4 tbsps soy sauce
4 tbsps brown vinegar
some Chinese chilli oil
Preparation
slice and mince the garlic and ginger. finely chop the chinese cabbage, spring onions & baby spinach
put the tofu in a bowl and mash it with a fork. add the garlic & ginger, chinese leaves, spring onions, baby spinach, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, pepper & plain flour to the bowl and mix well
dust a couple of large plates with the plain flour
take your first wrapper. put 1 tsp of the filling into the centre.
next, dip your index finger into the water, wet the edge of the wrapper. fold over the top of the wrapper and seal, using your thumbs and index fingers to make 5 small pleats. (watch the video to get an idea of how this is done.) place your first finished gyoza on one of the floured plates
repeat the process to make the rest of your vegetable gyoza
now you are ready to cook, you have 2 choices: you can either fry and steam or just fry
method A: (you could call this the traditional Chinese way)
heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan. place the gyoza in the pan and cook with the lid on until the bottom of the gyoza become lightly browned. then, add 30-40 ml of water to steam until the steam is evaporated
if you think the gyoza aren’t cooked enough, add a little more water to the pan to steam for a further minute or so
method B: (this is a favourite with many Japanese as it produces a more crispy skin)
heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan. place the gyoza in the pan and cook with a lid on until the bottom of the gyoza become lightly browned. then, turn the gyoza over, add a little more oil and cook the other side of the gyoza until they are lightly browned.
for the dipping sauce:
mix the soy sauce and vinegar and divide in 4 small dishes. add chilli oil according to your personal preference