My Father’s Purple Gyoza

Gyoza! Japanese pan-fried dumplings. This recipe comes from my father, who has created his own version of this Japanese dish, since we don’t really eat so much pork. I’m not a huge fan of doing weird things to Japanese cuisine, but let me tell you - this one’s an improvement! It’s quite a lot of work to make, but fun to do together if you have someone to help you.

Ingredients

8 dried Shiitake

1 Leek

250g minced lean Beef

1/3 Red Cabbage

5cm fresh Ginger

Garlic

Soy Sauce

Roasted Sesame Oil

Salt

1 pack of Gyoza Skins

Japanese Mustard

Chili Oil

Start by slicing the cabbage into slices of about 1 cm and then steam or boil until soft.

Soak the dried shiitake in hot water until completely soft.

Finely chop the leek and press/grate the garlic and ginger. Chop the cooked cabbage and shiitake into tiny pieces as well. Stir everything together in a big bowl, adding in the minced meat, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp of salt. It’s easiest to use your hands to make sure everything is very very well mixed.

Make sure your gyoza skins are thawed out and you have a little bowl of water. Take roughly a tbsp of the filling mixture and place it in the middle of the circle. Dip your finger into the waterbowl and use it to wet half the circle. Fold the wet side and dry side together. Make a single zigzag fold and press it closed. Move down the folded half-circle and place a total of about five zigzag folds. Repeat until you’re out of gyoza skins (or filling).

Heat a big frying pan with a little bit of vegetable oil. Fry the gyoza (careful not to crowd them too much, they’ll stick together) on medium-high heath, until the bottom is crispy brown. Then add 1/4 cup of water and quickly cover the pan with a lid to let them steam for about 3 min until most of the water is evaporated. Take off the lid and cook for another minute or so until all the remaining water is evaporated and the bottom is nice and crispy.

Serve with a bowl of white rice and dipping bowl with soy sauce, japanese mustard and/or chili oil to taste.