Chicken Yaki Gyoza with Umeboshi and Shiso

Finely chop 100 g chicken thigh. The pieces should be smaller than bitesize but chunkier than ground chicken.
Add the finely chopped chicken to a large mixing bowl along with 100 g ground chicken, 50 g yellow onion(s), 20 perilla (shiso) leaves, 2 tbsp umeboshi paste, 50 g green cabbage, 30 g garlic chive(s), 1 tbsp sake, 1 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp salt, 1 pinch ground black pepper, 1 tsp grated ginger root and 1 tbsp sesame seeds.
Mix until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Take a gyoza wrapper and add about 1 tbsp of the filling to the center, leaving a finger-width border around the edge. Wet the edges with a little water.
Fold the wrapper in half without letting the sides touch yet. Pinch one corner and start pleating.
Fold and press to make the pleats until the gyoza is close.
Press the edges down firmly to ensure it is properly sealed.
Repeat until all of the gyoza wrappers and filling are used up.
Heat a frying pan on medium and add 1 tbsp cooking oil. Once hot, place the gyoza in the pan with the flat side facing down and fry until the bottoms are crispy and brown (approx 3-5 minutes).
Pour 150 ml freshly boiled water around the pan. (Be careful of oil splashing.)
Place a lid on top and cook until the liquid is almost gone.
Remove the lid and continue to cook until the liquid is completely gone. Drizzle with ½ tbsp sesame oil and cook for 1 more minute before removing the pan from the heat.
Arrange on plates and serve with ponzu sauce.
Enjoy!