Hey guys, Yuto here (@sudachi.recipes)
What are gyoza?
Gyoza (餃子) are dumplings filled with pork, vegetables and seasonings, and then wrapped in a thin dough. Although they are eaten all across Japan, the dish originates from China and are originally called “Jiaozi”.
In English they are usually called dumplings or pot stickers.
They can be steamed, deep fried or pan fried, they’re pretty versatile. Most Japanese people fry them in a pan and then add a lid so they steam for a while. That way, they become crispy on the bottom and soft on the top, delicious!
A Brief History of Gyoza
The very first emergence of gyoza dumplings in Japan is obscure, yet one theory says that they came in around 18th century from China.
But it had never been a common dish up until after WW2 actually.
Like it had existed, but only certain amount of people (eg rich people) had access to the dish.
While steamed dumplings are a lot more popular and common in China, Japanese Gyoza is usually fried in a pan.
So this is another case that Chinese food came in to Japan then Japanese people found their own way to cook it.
Regional Gyoza
Now it’s a very common family dish all around Japan, and even different regions of Japan have their twists and their own versions of it. Such as:
- Enban gyoza (円盤餃子) : Fukushima Pref
- Utsunomiya gyoza (宇都宮餃子) : Tochigi Pref
- Hamamatsu gyoza (浜松餃子) : Shizuoka Pref
- Jumbo gyoza (ジャンボ餃子) : Hyogo Pref
- Yahata gyoza (八幡餃子) : Fukuoka Pref
I love how they found their own ways to be creative with the dish!
Gyoza can be a great vegetarian dish!
Using tofu instead of mince
At first, I was very skeptical about using tofu as alternative, but it actually works and is still delicious.
If you've tried our pork gyoza recipe you'll know that the fillings consist of mainly pork and spring onions seasoned with herbs and spices. Pork has a lot of flavour, where as tofu is quite plain. We added more vegetables to this recipe for more depth of flavour.
We also have shrimp gyoza recipe if you want to try out other meat free gyoza ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is veggie gyoza made of?
It really depends on the recipe, but the fillings I use are:
- Tofu
- Cabbage
- Mushroom
- Spring onion
- Chive
- Garlic
- Ginger
Are vegetable gyoza suitable for vegetarians or vegans?
I can't say that all vegetable gyoza are suitable for vegetarians and vegans, but my recipe is! I don't use any animal products in this recipe.
Let's get started!
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Vegetable Gyoza with Tofu
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 32 gyoza 1x
Description
How to make delicious Vegetable Gyoza with tofu and a dipping sauce
Ingredients
FILLING
- 150g Tofu
- 100g Cabbage
- 50g Mushroom (any kind is fine, use your favourite. We used shiitake)
- 30g Spring onion
- 20g chive
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp Sake
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
CONSTRUCTING
- 32 Premade gyoza wrappers or see our recipe for Japanese Gyoza Wrappers from Scratch.
- 1 Small cup of water
Cooking Time
- 50ml warm water
- 1 tsp flour – mixed
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tsp Soy sauce
- ½ tsp Chilli oil
- ¼ tsp Ground black pepper
Instructions
TO MAKE THE FILLING
- Roughly cut 100g of cabbage, 50g mushrooms, 30g spring onion, 20g chives and put them in a food processor with 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp ginger paste, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tsp sake, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Blend until finely cut (not a paste). If you don't have a food processor, you can just finely dice everything by hand but of course it takes longer.
- Transfer everything to a large bowl.
- Drain the liquid out of the packaged tofu and add it to the box of finely diced vegetables.
- Crumble the tofu by hand and gently mix it in with the vegetables.
FORMING THE GYOZA
- Prepare a small bowl of water and a large plate dusted with flour.
- Take your gyoza wrapper in the palm of your hand and use a teaspoon 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- Continue pleating and pressing each fold all the way along the semi circle shape until the gyoza is completely sealed.
- 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
- First, mix 50ml of warm water and 1 tsp flour to make a slurry.
- Heat your non-stick pan on medium and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Once all of the slurry is evaporated, take off the lid and drizzle with 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
- Flip them all onto a plate together and serve with the dipping sauce!
Notes
This recipe is to make 32 dumplings, so about 8 gyoza per person per meal. You can always put extra in the freezer for up to 1 month and cook from frozen for a little longer in the frying pan.
We usually serve with rice and soup but it's quite a versatile side dish and great for parties.
- Category: Fusion
- Method: Pan-fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
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Hi, looks delish!
Just letting you know that the link to making the gyoza is broken.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for your comment and letting us know!
It's fixed now, thanks again!