My boyfriend loves Chinese takeout - it's his favourite hungover lazy day meal, and he usually orders enough to feed an army. I'd never really eaten much Chinese takeout before he came into my life, but now I am a firm convert. Crispy salt and pepper prawns, shredded chilli beef, duck pancakes smothered in hoisin sauce... Okay stop, this is making me hungry.
We've ordered our way through most of our locals, from barely edible grease-fests to surprisingly decent (that's about as good as it gets, Walthamstow is not known for it's Chinese cuisine...). However the one dish no takeout seems to get right is gyoza. They're always thick, stodgy, overcooked and a bit soggy, yet we still order them every time "just in case". But nope, no luck. So I decided enough was enough and set about learning to make my own. There's been plenty of mistakes along the way, but I finally feel like I've perfected the art of dumplings with this pork gyoza recipe.
Gyoza seem like they'd be super hard to make, right? But they're surprisingly straightforward! Okay, the first time I made them I painstakingly rolled the dough by hand and that took ages, but once I discovered pre-made gyoza wrappers from my local Asian supermarket it's been a doddle. Getting the hang of folding them can be a little tricky, but it just takes a bit of practice. Besides, even if they don't look the neatest they still taste pretty great!
Do make sure as you're making them you keep plenty of room between them and put greaseproof paper down so they don't stick. This recipe makes roughly 30 gyoza, which is plenty! If you don't want to make so many and have extra filling, I used the leftover pork mix fried with noodles in a soy dashi broth for a quick weeknight dinner.
Pork gyoza only take a couple of minutes to cook, and it's an easy process. It starts with frying the gyoza in batches in a large lidded frying pan - I like mine a bit crispier and dark golden so fry for up to a minute on high heat, however if you prefer a softer wrapper 30 seconds will do the trick. Then you add water to the pan, cover and steam for a further 3 minutes to cook the filling through. I like to flip em first so both sides get a little crispy, but this is just personal preference!
I've also included the recipe for a simple soy vinegar dipping sauce, because they're at their best generously dunked in soy if you ask me.
Read More: Check out my other food and cocktail recipes
Pork Gyoza
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork mince*
- 3/4 pak choi finely chopped (I usually leave off the hard white end)
- 1 spring onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- salt and pepper
- 30-35 gyoza wrappers*
- vegetable oil
- 75 ml water
Soy Vinegar Dipping Sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp thinly sliced ginger
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl mix together the pork mince, pak choi, spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, making sure everything is well combined and the mince is broken up.
- Line a plate with greaseproof paper to place your gyoza on.
- Place a heaped teaspoon of the pork mix on one side of a dumpling wrapper, leaving 2mm around the edge (see image). Fold the dumpling wrapper over itself, wetting your fingers to press the edges together. To seal the edges make four small folds along the curved edge, using a small amount of water to hold it together.
- Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large lidded frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot add your dumplings. Be careful not to crowd the pan - I usually work in batches of 6-8 at a time. Press down with a spatula as you put them in to ensure an even crispiness on the base. Fry for roughly 45 seconds without moving them until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Flip the dumplings and pour in 75ml of water. Cover immediately with a lid and cook for a further 3 minutes until the water has evaporated and the dumplings are cooked through.
Soy Vinegar Dipping Sauce
- To make the sauce simply combine rice vinegar, soy sauce and ginger to a small bowl and mix.
