What’s fun about Gyoza is that you can be creative with its filling. Instead of regular green cabbage, try making these pan-fried dumplings with napa cabbage!
I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather has been improving but unfortunately, it’s going to rain for 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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Napa Cabbage Gyoza
Ingredients
- 1 lb napa cabbage (8 large leaves)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 lb ground pork
For Gyoza Seasonings
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For Wrapping
For Every Batch of Frying Gyoza
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- ¼ cup water (4 Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
To Make Gyoa Filling
- Finely chop the napa cabbage and put it in a medium bowl. Sprinkle salt and rub the napa cabbage with your hands. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Gather all the ingredients to make the gyoza filling.
- In a large bowl, add the meat, garlic, ginger, green onions, and gyoza seasonings.
- Knead the mixture with your hand until it gets sticky and pale in color.
- Squeeze water out of the napa cabbage with your hands.
- Add the napa cabbage to the meat mixture and mix it all together.
To Wrap Gyoza and Store
- Wrap the filling with gyoza wrappers. If you never made it before, here is the tutorial on how to fold gyoza. While working on it, gyoza wrappers will become dry, so keep the wrappers under a damp towel or plastic. You also need to cover the finished gyoza with plastic. If you don't cook all the gyoza, place gyoza in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic and flash-freeze until gyoza becomes solid, about for an hour. Then transfer frozen gyoza into a resealable bag to store.
To Cook Gyoza
- In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil on medium 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 the bottom of the gyoza becomes a nice golden color, add 4 Tbsp water and cover with the lid. Let gyoza steam until most of the water evaporates.
- When the water has been evaporated, remove the lid to let any remaining water evaporate. Drizzle sesame oil around the edge of the pan and cook uncovered until the bottom of the gyoza gets crispy again. The gyoza skin may look get stuck at first (from the moisture) but once water is evaporated and oil cooks the skin, gyoza will release itself.
- Place a serving plate on top of the gyoza and quickly flip. Serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. I recommend cooking gyoza right before you enjoy, therefore, try to cook the amount you will be eating and keep the uncooked gyoza frozen.
What to Do with Leftover Filling
- You can make quick meatballs with the leftover filling and pan-fry them.
Hello! I was wondering if this recipe would taste good with ground beef instead of pork. I was thinking of making the meatballs this way (what you suggest to do with leftover filling). If you think this would work, would I use the same seasonings? Thank you for your help.
Hello, Alexandria! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
Yes, ground beef can be used, but the filling will be drier and less sweet.
If you prefer the flavor of this dish with pork, you might want to add a little extra sugar to the ground beef.
We hope this was helpful!🙂
Hello !
Can I just make Tane today and keep them in fridge over night and make actual gyoza next day ?
or is that bad idea? Thanks so much!!!
Hi L! I am sorry for my late response. I wish I could write you sooner. I’m not sure what you did, but for gyoza or dumpling, the filling release some water and that makes the wrapping wet, and it may break. Therefore, if you don’t use it right away, I recommend to freeze them, even you use it next day. Again, I truly apologize for my late response.
This Recipe was great!! I made the gyoza wrappers by hand for the first time and with your recipe they turned out really well. The gyoza itself was fantastic. I did use cooking wine instead of sake and it turned out fine. I also used soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger for the sauce. Thank you so much for the great recipe. I’ll be visiting this website more often.
Hi Yelissa! I’m happy to hear you liked the recipe! Wow, I’m glad to hear your gyoza wrappers came out well too. I hope you find some recipes you like on my site. 🙂 Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂 xo
Hi Nami,
Do you clean your Napa cabbage in the salad spinner? Do you wash them before you shred them? I always make a huge mass while cleaning them… Also, what do you do with the leaves that have tiny black spots on them? Thank you!
Hi Lu! I apologize for my late response. I usually wash the napa cabbage leaves before I cut them. Then I cut and sprinkle salt, and squeeze the water out.
You can eat the black spotted napa cabbage. The black spot is polyphenol and the napa cabbage with it is actually sweeter and tastes very good! 🙂
Hello Nami !
I’ve been cooking gyoza/jiaozi for one year now, with always the same recipe. Today, I see yours and think “Well, why not change this time?”
So I made gyoza following your recipe, only using chicken instead of pork and cooked in a bamboo steamer. And it was DELICIOUS! Same ingredients but different measures and it’s not the same dish. My parents and siblings were unanimous “Keep this recipe, forget the other!”.
Well, all is said right? 🙂 Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.
Hi Cassandre! Thank you so much for trying this recipe, despite the recipe was shared on the site pretty long time ago, and the photo is not so great (my early camera skill!). I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Your comment made my day! THANK YOU!
Hi Nami,
How do you keep the gyoza from sticking to each other? Everytime I try cooking using your circle method, they end up sticking to each other and I can’t get them apart. I end up ripping them.
Hi Rose!
So you have two choices. 1) Give some space in between when you line up gyoza in circle – but when you flip, most likely you have to fix up the shape as all the gyoza are too loose when you flip to the plate. 2) Use non-circle method and fry separately. Hope that helps! 🙂
My Japanese mamas taught me how to make gyoza. It is one of my favorite foods. One variation I often use that hubby loves is adding a can of bacon Spam, mincing it and mixing it with the ground pork. It is so delicious! I use regular cabbage shredded, carrots and green onions. If you don’t have cooking sake, drinking sake is fine. BTW, I don’t pleat my gyoza, I just seal them and cook. Easy.
I never used spam in my cooking but heard great things about it! Thanks for sharing!