Go Back

Gyoza

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
Cooking the gyoza uncovered for a minute or so after removing the lid of the pan is like frying the bottoms a second time. Don't skip that extra step to give your gyoza the best texture.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 36 gyoza
Gyoza (top and bottom shown) with dipping sauces

Ingredients
  

Gyoza filling

Gyoza wrapper

To pan-fry the gyoza

Instructions
 

Mix the gyoza filling

  • In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the gyoza filling.
  • Cover the bowl and chill in the fridge while you make the wrappers.

Make the gyoza wrapper

  • In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the wrapper until it forms a ball.
  • Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and leave to rest for ten minutes.
  • Dump the rested gyoza wrapper dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 15 to 25 minutes depending on the level of humidity in your kitchen.
  • Divide the dough into two equal portions.
  • Roll each portion into a thin log.
  • Cut each log into 18 pieces so you have 36 pieces of dough altogether.

Roll the gyoza wrappers

  • Take a piece of dough and flatten with your hands.
    Making gyoza wrapper from scratch
  • Lightly coat both sides of the flattened dough with starch.
  • With a rolling pin, flatten the dough to form a three-inch disc about two millimeters in thickness.
    Rolling gyoza dough wrapper into three-inch discs
  • Repeat with the rest of the gyoza wrapper dough.

Assemble the gyoza

  • Take the filling out of the fridge.
  • Take a wrapper and place a teaspoonful of filling at the center.
    Filling gyoza wrapper with ground pork mixture
  • Fold the dough and lightly pinch the center of the edges. DO NOT seal the edges at this point.
  • With one hand holding the dumpling, use the index and forefingers of your other hand to fold a pleat near the center. The direction of the pleat is towards the center. Make two more pleats keeping the pleats about a quarter inch apart.
    How to pleat gyoza wrapper
  • Fold three pleats on the other side of the dumpling.
    Details of uncooked gyoza showing the pleated wrapper
  • Repeat until all the wrappers have been filled.

Pan fry the gyoza

  • Spread a tablespoon of sesame seed oil on the bottom of a frying pan and heat.
  • Arrange half of the dumplings in the pan so that they do not touch one another.
  • Cook the dumplings in the hot oil until the bottoms are browned and crusty.
  • Pour in a quarter cup of water around the edges of the pan (be careful not to pour water directly on the dumplings).
  • Cover the pan, set the heat to medium and allow the gyoza to cook in the steam for about eight minutes.
    Pan fried gyoza (yaki-gyoza)
  • Uncover the pan and continue cooking the dumplings until all the water has evaporated and the oil is sizzling.
  • Repeat the process for the remaining half of the gyoza.

Serve the gyoza

  • Arrange the cooked gyoza on a plate.
  • Serve the gyoza with soy sauce and chili oil sauce, or your preferred dipping sauce.

Notes

Updated from a recipe originally published in January 14, 2021
Keyword dumplings