THE GYOZA

The father of all gyoza

Gyoza is very popular casual dish in Japan. Iki iki Gyoza (イキイキ ギョーザ）restaurant in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture in Japan has 70 different gyoza on the menu - asparagus, spinach, squash, corn, walnuts, green pepper, green onion, kimchee, shrimp, celery, natto, cheese, fruits, chocolate, miso, mochi, goya, okra, curry, sausage, chicken, plum with shiso, yogurt, wasabi, garlic, egg, spring vegetable, mushroom, liver, crab, beans, salmon, scallop, cod roe and more (I just couldn’t remember all 70 of them). Wow! That will take me forever to decide except for the chocolate gyoza. I myself have several gyoza recipes and it is easy to improvise and make your own. I made the Originator (元祖） gyoza for this post, very basic one. If you master this recipe, you are free to add something or change to make your original. but just don’t get carried away. I don’t think just wrapping something in a gyoza skin makes it a gyoza. I just like the simpleness of  flavor that this gyoza brings, no fuss, no frills. I really hope you agree.

Make home made gyoza skin

Skip this process,if you are using store bought gyoza skin. I usually do. Though time consuming, homemade ones have a nostalgic flavor that I like.

• All purpose flour 300g (If you have high gluten flour use 180g of this with 120g of regular flour)
• Very hot water 175 ml

1. Put flour in medium bowl
2. Pour very hot water at once into bowl, stir quickly with a wooden spoon
3. With hand, quickly try make into a ball- it’s still dry and crumbly at this stage.
4. Sprinkle a little bit of flour and put dough on it and push the dough with your palm  5 to 6 times- do this as fast as possible.
5. Tear the dough up into small pieces so that dough won’t start to cook. Let cool for 1-2 minutes.
6. Gather the small pieces into one ball again then knead dough pushing with your palm the folding the dough toward you for 5 to 6 times, turn the dough quarter turn each time.
7. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
8. Knead the dough by using your palm to push away and fold toward you for 8 to 10 times.
9. Wrap your dough with plastic wrap and let rest for another 30 minutes.
10. Cut dough in a half and keep half in wrap until ready. Roll the dough by hand and make a 15 inch snake (remember Garry Larsen comic? This is an easy creation.)
11. Cut snake in 15 pieces (15g is ideal weight- if you have a scale, weigh it. So that you have sense of how much to cut each piece)
12. Turn the cut side up then push down with your palm to flatten.
13. Put all pieces in the plastic bag so that they wont’ dry out. Do the same process for other half of dough.
14. Using the wooden dowel or rolling pin, stretch each round of dough to about 4 inch round. The center is bit thicker than the outer edge.

Filling- Japanese call this an（あん）

• Ground pork 200g
• Cabbage leaf 180g minced
• Nira (Garlic green onion)60g minced
• Long green onion about 4 inches minced- I used white part
• Ginger 15g minced
• Garlic 2-3 cloves grated

Seasoning

• Green onion oil (ねぎ油）* or regular oil  2 tablespoons
• Soy sauce 2 tablespoons
• Sake  2 tablespoons
• Sugar 1 tablespoon
• Sesame oil 1 tablespoon
• Salt 1 teaspoon
• White pepper 1/2 teaspoon

1. In the bowl, put ground pork, long green onion, ginger and garlic and mix well
2. Put all the seasonings in and knead for 2 to 3 minutes
3. Add the cabbage and nira and mix lightly
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour

Assembly

1. Hold the gyoza skin in your palm and place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center
2. Fold in half and gather just the top, folding into pleats, starting at one end and working your way to the other
3. Pinch the sides together to seal

If you use store-bought gyoza skins like these, you’ll need to wet the seam to get a good seal.

Homemade on the left. Don’t you think it looks more delicious?

Cooking

1. Heat the frying pan over medium high heat
2. Put sesame oil in a small bowl
3. Dip the gyoza in the sesame oil
4. Place upright in pan
5. Cook until the bottoms are browned
6. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover with a lid and steam until the water evaporates
7. Remove lid and cook until bottom is crispy

* Green onion oil (optional)

Ingredients

• Lard 250 g
• Long green onion (green parts only) 2 to 3 cut into 3 inch lengths
• Onion 1/2 of a medium size
• Ginger skin 30 g

Put everything in a skillet and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Strain and keep in a jar at room temperature. You can use in fried rice as well.

Dipping Sauces

There are many kinds of sauces that you can use with gyoza. Even store bought, ready made ones. Here are a few of the ones I like.

Balsamic vinegar, noodle dipping sauce (straight) and parsley

Soy sauce, vinegar, layu, long green onion white parts minced and mustard (optional)

Soy sauce, vinegar and kochijan

You can cook gyoza in different ways as well. Steamed, fried, deep fried and boiled are other options. I like them all. I have had many “gyoza parties” where everyone brings their favorites and we get to try various kinds. Let me know what your favorite is.

Pork Belly Buns

kakuni manjyu 角煮まんじゅう

Nagasaki, where I grew up, is influenced by many different cultures. Because Nagasaki was the first in Japan to open up for imports from foreign countries and allow missionaries to spread Christianity, it made this place so unique and rich in history. The culinary tastes are also different than other cities in Japan. Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and other influences are still present. The people there took all those and somehow melded them to create their own original style. I think the most famous there is Nagasaki chanpon （長崎ちゃんぽん）rich pork noodle soup with lots of vegetables and seafood – sort of a ramen on steriods. Kasutera is very popular sweet in Japan. Story is that one of Dutch missionary made for investigator but I ‘m not for sure because 1500’s in Japan didn’t have oven so how someone could make kasutera without it. And this pork belly buns originated from Chinese dim sum is one of my favorite. If you go to the city of Nagasaki, I recommend to stop by Nagasaki  Butaman Momotaro (長崎ぶたまん桃太呂）Their pork bun is small but tasty and less than $1 for one. They are famous for gyoza also.

Filling

First you make pork belly filling (preferably make it the night before). This is pretty much the same as I posted before in Pressure Cooker Pork Belly but make the flavor a bit richer and the sauce thicker.

• Pork belly 800g-cut in chunk
• Sake 2 cups
• Water 1 cup
• Long green onion- use green part only
• Ginger root 80g-skin and slice
• Dark brown sugar 1/3 cup
• Soy sauce 1/4 cup

1. In a pressure cooker, brown pork belly
2. Pour sake, water,green onion and ginger and pressure cook on high for 50 minutes ( if using regular pan, make sure meat is submerged. Add more water if not. Cook on medium high for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let it cool.)
3. After meat is cool, put dark brown sugar and soy sauce then cook until cooking juice reduced by half over medium heat.
4. Dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch in about 1/4 cup of water then pour in the pan to thicken the juice.

Dough

• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 3-4 tablespoon water

1. Put everything in bread maker and knead for 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and let it rest for 1 hour.
2. Cut parchment paper in 12 2-1/2 inch square put it aside
3. Lightly flour a work surface. Roll the dough into a 16 inch long log. Cut  the log into 12 equal pieces and make balls from each piece. Cover the dough with damp cloth until ready so it won’t dry out. Any longer than 2 hours and it dries out too much.
4. Working with one piece at a time, shape the dough ball into a cup-don’t stretch too thin or it will break. Hold the dough in one hand and carefully spoon about 1 tablespoon of pork belly with some juice into the center.
5. Gather the edges of the dough, twist the dough and seal at the top.
6. Place seam side up on the prepared parchment paper.
7. Bring 4 cups of water in wok or big pan to a boil over high heat.
8. Put the balls in a bamboo steamers, spacing the bun at least 2 inches apart. I have a double-decker bamboo steamer so I placed 6 in each. Stack the steamer on top of each other and cover.
9. Set the stacked steamers over the boiling water and steam the buns about 15 to 20 minutes
10. Serve with Japanese mustard and soy sauce.

Nagasaki has many great restaurants and places to see. I hope you visit if you get a chance.

Banana Sticky Buns

My husband as a baker

At a grocery store recently, I picked out cooking magazine called ‘fine Cooking’. The magazine cover featured a great looking photo of meatloaf. To me meatloaf does not necessary equal fine cooking but whatever. Another headline said ’ready in 30 minutes! Special Valentine’s Supper’. After reading just that, I’m sold. At home my carb-loving husband was immediately drawn to page70, ‘overnight banana sticky buns with pecans’. Lucky for him,he had everything needed to make this dish. Must be some kind of banana karma as my daughter also put up a banana cake recipe.

It is a kind of challenge to live with person who loves carbohydrate that much and makes such wonderful carb-loaded treats,especially for a person who is trying to avoid it to lose weight. I sometimes wonder how fellow food bloggers like Da stays so thin. If she knows the secret she must share with me ASAP.

For the dough

• 1 pound (about 3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed
• 1 (1/4 oz.) package fast-rising yeast
• 1/2 cup very warm milk or water (about 125F)
• 3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 1 large)
• 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted; more for bowl
• 2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1-1/4 tsp. salt

For the Filling

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.
• 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1-3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of of the flour with yeast. Stir in the warm milk or water until combined.
2. Cover the bowl and let sit in a warm spot in the kitchen for 30 minutes.
3. Stir the banana, melted butter, sugar, egg, and salt into the yeast mixture until well combined.
4. Stir in all but 1/4 cup of the remaining flour to make a stiff, shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
5. Knead, folding the dough over onto itself. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto surface as needed. Keep kneading until the dough becomes smooth and easy to handle.
6. Put the dough in a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 40 to 50 minutes.
   
7. On a lightly floured surface , shape the dough into a rectangle. Roll out into a 16x11 inch rectangle.
8. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough to within 1/8 inch of the edge.
9. Combine the chopped pecans.brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the butter.
10. Roll up the dough length wise, starting from a long edge and pinch the seam to seal. Flip the dough so that seam side is on the bottom.
11. Trim off and discard 1/2 inch from each end then cut log into twelve 1-1/4 inch pieces (he uses dental floss – not the flavored one – to cut). Cover with plastic wrap.

For the caramel-pecan sauce

• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter. Softened butter for the pan
• 11/2 cups sugar
• 1 large ripe banana, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Generous pinch salt
• 1 cup pecan halves

1. Generously butter a 12-cup standard muffin pan, set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup warm water. Stir until sugar dissolves – 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Cook the syrup without stirring, until it begins to caramelize- be careful not to burn and don’t panic when syrup starts to crystalize. Gently swirl the pan to help it brown evenly.
4. Once the syrup has turned an amber color, remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in the banana and cold butter. Then stir in the heavy cream, returning the pan to low heat if the mixture doesn’t smooth out immediately.
5. Add vanilla and salt and stir until smooth. Strain the sauce and discard banana. Let the caramel cool for 15 minutes.
6. Pour about 1-1/2 Tablespoon of caramel into each muffin cup. reserve the rest of the caramel sauce at room temperature.
7. Place a few pecans each in muffin cup.
8. Place the dough slices over sauce and nuts, cut side down. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
9. The next day, remove from refrigerator and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled. 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
10. Preheat oven to 350F. Put the muffin pan on a cookie sheet (to catch the caramel if it overflows) and bake until the tops and edges are browned, 20 to 22 minutes.
11. Immediately invert the pan onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Replace any pecans that fell off and let cool for 10 minutes. Reheat the reserved caramel and drizzle over the buns.

It was quite the process but he made amazing sticky-buns. I appreciate his efforts. Thank you fine Cooking!