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–+ servings
pan-fried tofu and vegetable gyoza on a white plate arranged in a circle around a bowl of gyoza dipping sauce

Pan-Fried Vegetarian Tofu Gyoza (Plant-Based Potstickers)

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 20 gyoza

Ingredients 
 

Gyoza Filling

  • 2 tbsp dried wood ear mushroom the black kind, white wood ear is a different fungus
  • 100 g firm tofu momen, labeled Firm on US shelves
  • 50 g fresh shiitake mushroom
  • 50 g canned bamboo shoots or vacuum-packed
  • 30 g garlic chives
  • 1 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase) light-colored blended miso
  • ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) for the filling
  • 1 tsp sake
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • ½ tbsp grated garlic
  • 1 tsp grated ginger root
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil for the filling
  • 1 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) to bind, or cornstarch

Assembly and Cooking

Gyoza Dipping Sauce

To Finish

  • 1 pinch ground black pepper

Instructions 

  • Cover 2 tbsp dried wood ear mushroom with boiling water and soak for about 20 minutes.
    Wrap 100 g firm tofu in paper towels and heat it in the microwave at 600W for 2 to 3 minutes. Once it is cool enough to hold, give it a light squeeze.
    a block of firm tofu wrapped in kitchen paper
  • Cut just the hard end off the stems of 50 g fresh shiitake mushroom, then tear the mushrooms, stems included, into bite-size pieces with your hands. Coarsely chop 50 g canned bamboo shoots and roughly chop 30 g garlic chives.
    When the thick middle of the wood ear feels soft, drain it. Trim away the hard stub at the base and chop the rest coarsely.
    Prep for tofu gyoza. Firm tofu wrapped with kitchen paper on a plate, soaking wood ear mushrooms, and a steel prep plate with finely chopped garlic chives, grated garlic and ginger, finely chopped bamboo shoots and roughly chopped shiitake mushrooms.
  • Put the drained tofu in a bowl with 1 tbsp yellow miso paste (awase), ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and 1 tsp sake, then mix.
    a small block of firm tofu in a bowl with miso and soy sauce.
  • Add the shiitake, bamboo shoots, wood ear, garlic chives, ¼ tsp sugar and 1 tsp mirin, and mix just until it all looks even. Add ½ tbsp grated garlic, 1 tsp grated ginger root and 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil and fold everything together.
    Tofu gyoza filling ingredients finely cut and placed in a bowl with wooden spatula.
  • Just before you start wrapping, add 1 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) and mix lightly until the filling holds together. Working with 20 gyoza wrappers one at a time, lay a wrapper on your palm and spoon ½ to 1 tbsp of filling into the middle, leaving a little room around the edge.
    Cornstarch added to tofu gyoza filling in a steel mixing bowl.
  • Dab a little water along the edge, fold the wrapper in half and seal it, pleating one side 5 to 6 times as you go. Tap the bottom of each gyoza lightly to flatten it.
    pleating the edges of a gyoza wrapper to seal tofu and vegetable gyoza
  • Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add ½ tsp cooking oil and arrange the gyoza smooth side down in a single layer. Fry until the bottoms are golden brown and crisp.
    tofu gyoza arranged in a single layer in a frying pan on the stove top.
  • Prepare 3 tbsp freshly boiled water and pour it into the pan right away. Cover with a lid and steam until almost no water is left, 4 to 6 minutes.
    tofu gyoza cooking in a frying pan with lid (steam frying) on the stove top.
  • While the gyoza steam, stir together 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar (komezu), 2 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and ½ tsp chili oil (rayu) for the dipping sauce.
    mixing gyoza sauce in a small glass bowl
  • Take off the lid and cook off any remaining water. Drizzle about 1 tsp toasted sesame oil down the sides of the pan and fry until the bottoms are crisp again. Cover the pan with a plate, turn the gyoza out onto it, sprinkle with 1 pinch ground black pepper and serve with the dipping sauce. Enjoy!
    crispy pan-fried tofu gyoza in a pan on the stove top

Notes

If the filling looks wet: Water pools in the bowl, or a spoonful of filling spreads and will not hold its shape. Either way, work in potato starch a little at a time before you wrap, until the filling holds together.
Always press the tofu: Tofu that still holds its water loosens the filling, turns the wrappers soggy and keeps the wings from forming well.
Add the starch right before you wrap: Mixed filling keeps giving up water from the tofu and vegetables the longer it sits. Starch added early soaks up that water and stops binding. Wrap all of the filling on the day you mix it.
Season the tofu first, add the sesame oil last: Work the miso, soy sauce and sake into the tofu on its own first. Added at the very end, the sesame oil keeps its aroma.
Steam with boiling water: Cold water drops the temperature of the pan, and the wrappers turn soggy.
Flip onto a plate only once the pan is dry: Flipping early can result in soggy gyoza that tear easily. The water should be completely gone before trying to remove them from the pan.