Squid Ink Gyoza with Shrimp Filling

For the Gyoza Wrappers

1. First, measure out 50g weak flour and 50g strong flour and use a sieve to sift them into a large bowl.
2. Add a pinch of salt and mix it in with the flour.
3. Add 30ml of hot boiled water and 4g squid ink to the flour and mix with a spoon until you have a sticky dough.
4. Transfer the dough to a clean surface. Add a little flour to the surface if your dough is a bit sticky, but be sparing. Too much flour =  dry dough.
5. Knead for 10 minutes until you have a smooth ball of dough.
6. Wrap it up in plastic kitchen wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
7. Once rested, cut the dough in half and roll each piece into even cylinders.
8. Wrap one of them back up and set aside for later. (This is to stop it from drying out)
9. Cut the cylinder you kept out in half, then half again, then half again until you have 8 pieces.
10. Roll each piece into a ball.
11. Now dust your surface with flour and push one ball of dough flat down using the lower part of the palm of your hand.
12. With a flour dusted rolling pin, roll it up and down. Then turn the wrapper 90 degrees and roll again. Make it as thin as you can without breaking it.
13. Pick up the wrapper and use your fingers to pinch around the edges, making the edges even thinner and neatening the circle shape.
14. Generously sprinkle flour on the top and bottom of the wrapper.
15. Repeat steps 11 to 14 for the other 7 balls of dough.
16. Repeat steps 9 to 15 for the other cylinder, you will end up 16 wrappers in total.
17. We recommend using them straight away, but they can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or the freezer for about 1 month. (see note)

For the Filling

1. Prepare your shrimp first. If it's frozen, defrost it and make sure to remove all the shells, tails and veins.
2. Finely chop your spring onion, parsley and garlic.
3. Divide the shrimps into half. Finely chop half and mash the other half into a paste. (This adds texture!)
4. In a bowl, add both the cut shrimp and mashed shrimp together and add your spring onion, parsley and garlic.
5. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp corn starch and a pinch of black pepper to the bowl and mix.

For the Sauce

1. Take a small bowl and add 1 tsp spring onion, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ tsp salt and sugar, ¼ tsp black pepper and mix well.

Forming the Gyoza

1. Prepare a small bowl of water.
2. Take your gyoza wrapper in the palm of your hand and use a knife to spread a thin layer of the filling onto the middle of the wrapper, leaving a finger width gap all the way around the edge. Be careful not to overfill the gyoza otherwise you won’t be able to seal it!
3. Using your empty hand, dip a finger in the water and wet down one half of the edge, this acts like a glue to bond the edges when pressed together.
4. Carefully fold the gyoza but don’t let the edges touch yet. Pinch the corner of the semi circle shape, and then using your thumbs, fold a small pleat and press it down.
5. Continue pleating and pressing each fold all the way along the semi circle shape until the gyoza is completely sealed.
6. Put your completed gyoza onto a flour dusted plate and repeat. It might take a few tries but you’ll soon get the hang of it!

Cooking the Gyoza

1. First, mix 50ml of warm water and 1 tsp flour to make a slurry.
2. Heat your non-stick pan on medium and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
3. Carefully place your gyoza into the pan one by one with the flat side facing down and touching the base. Fry until it starts to turn brown.
4. Pour your flour/water slurry into the pan, making sure everything is covered. Put the lid on and allow the slurry to completely evaporate, creating a crispy layer around the gyoza.
5. While the slurry is evaporating make your sauce. Mix 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp chilli oil and ¼ tsp ground black pepper in a shallow bowl.
6. Once all of the slurry is evaporated, take off the lid and drizzle with 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
7. Flip them all onto a plate together and serve with the dipping sauce!