What’s fun about Gyoza is that you can be creative with its filling. You can make any types of gyoza including this napa cabbage gyoza.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather has been improving but unfortunately it’s going to rain a few days this week. My daughter turned 3 years old yesterday and we celebrated her birthday. My son’s birthday is in May so we’ll have a joint birthday party in a few weeks for the two of them. It’s so hard to believe my youngest baby is already 3 years old. They’re growing up so fast, almost too fast. I am really enjoying spending time with them but I know I will miss them so much when they start spending more time at school.
Today’s recipe is Gyoza. So far I have introduced Chicken & Shiso Gyoza with Yuzu Kosho Ponzu Sauce and basic Gyoza recipes. What’s fun about Gyoza is that you can be creative with its filling. You can wrap any ingredients you like in the Gyoza skin and create your own invention. In Japan, we even wrap cheese in Gyoza skin and it’s very good. For the Gyoza recipe today, I added napa cabbage. Some families do use napa cabbage as an ingredient instead of cabbage. Once in a while I change the seasonings and see if I can make even better gyoza. For this particular recipe you don’t need to dip gyoza in any sauce because it has enough seasonings and taste. Oh one more thing. If you have leftovers, just freeze them and have some as a snack or a quick meal. Happy Monday!
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- 1 lb napa cabbage (1 lb = 8 large leaves)
- ½ tsp salt (kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger (1" = 1 Tbsp minced ginger)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 pkg Gyoza wrappers (1 pkg = 54 wrappers)
- 2 Tbsp potato/corn starch (optional)
- 2 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (for each batch of frying Gyoza)
- ¼ cup water (for each batch of frying Gyoza)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted) (for each batch of frying Gyoza)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 tsp salt (kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt)
- 1 tsp sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Finely chop the napa cabbage and put it in a medium bowl. Sprinkle salt and rub the napa cabbage with hands. Set aside for 10 minutes.
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Gather all the ingredients to make the gyoza filling.
- Mince garlic, ginger, and green onions and put them in a large bowl. Add the meat and Seasonings.
- Knead the mixture with hands until it gets sticky.
- Squeeze water out of the napa cabbage with hands.
- Add the napa cabbage in the large bowl. Mix all together with hands again.
- Wrap the filling with gyoza wrappers (See How To Wrap Gyoza). If you don’t cook the gyoza right away, I recommend freezing because moisture from the filling may break the wrapping. To freeze, place the gyoza on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, keeping some distance to each other, and flash-freeze until hard (so now gyoza won't stick to each other). Then transfer to a freezer bag to store.
- In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil on medium high heat. When the pan is hot, arrange gyoza in a circular shape. If you place gyoza tightly together, the individual pieces won’t fall off when you flip them onto a serving plate.
- When gyoza is browned, pour water and immediately put the lid on. Turn the heat to high and steam gyoza till most of water evaporates. Be careful not to overcook gyoza because it will burn easily.
- When most of the water is evaporated, remove the lid to let any remaining water evaporate. Add sesame oil around the edge of the inner pan and cook uncovered until gyoza gets nice and crisp on the bottom.
- Place a serving plate on top of the pan and quickly flip. Serve immediately.
- If you have any leftover filling, you can make meat balls with it and fry them.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
