Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers)

I'm so thankful when I find a recipe I love that can be frozen and prepared quickly straight from the freezer.  These Gyoza (Japanese potstickers) freeze beautifully and make for a quick and delicious meal.  I like to serve mine with a simple dipping sauce and plain rice.  While the initial preparation of these potstickers can be time consuming if, like me, you're pleating them by hand, once they're shaped they take hardly any time or effort to cook.  The recipe makes a ton of gyoza, so you can make them for a crowd or freeze them for many meals down the road.  I look forward to making another batch of these soon to restock my freezer, but I think this time I'll invest in a dumpling press to make the shaping of these potstickers go a lot faster.

Gyoza
via Meal Planning 101
makes 72 dumplings

1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. bag of coleslaw (or 1 lb. cabbage finely shredded)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated or minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 package of gyoza skins
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Before you start making the gyoza, prepare your workspace.  Get out a large baking sheet and moisten a clean kitchen towel or paper towel until just damp.  In a small bowl mix together the water and cornstarch.

In a large mixing bowl mix together the pork, cabbage, ginger, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil until well combined.

To begin filling your gyoza, hold a dumpling wrapper in one hand.  Dip your finger in the cornstarch water and moisten all around the outside edge of the wrapper.  Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.  Fold the gyoza wrapper in half and pinch in the middle.  To make a pleat, you'll need to make a small fold to the left of the middle.  Pinch that together.  Make another fold to the left of the pleat you just made and pinch together.  Make the same pleats pinching them together on the other side until the dumpling is completely sealed.  In the palm of your hand or on a hard surface, stand the gyoza up and tap to make a flat bottom.

When you are all done folding and making the potstickers, you could at this point place your whole baking sheet in the freezer. The gyoza will freeze in about an hour or two and can then be placed in a ziplock bag. This prevents them from freezing into a big potsticker ball. When you are ready to use them, just pull them out of the freezer and add an extra minute or two for cooking time.

Whether cooking these fresh or frozen, get out a large non-stick skillet that has a tight fitting lid. Place a couple teaspoons of oil in the pan and turn the heat up to high. Get a 1/2 cup of water ready and place on the counter beside you. Place the gyoza in the pan on the flat side with their pleats sticking up. Depending on the size of your pan you should be able to fit about 12 or so into the pan (if I'm serving this as a meal for 4, I have two frying pans going at once). After about a minute or two the bottoms of the gyoza will be browned and crispy. Grab the lid to the frying pan in one hand and the 1/2 cup of water in the other. Quickly pour the water into the pan and put the lid on. Turn the heat down to low and set a timer for 10 minutes. The dumplings will finish cooking in the pan by steaming.

After 10 minutes remove the lid of the pan. If not all the water is gone let them sit another minute or two to let the water evaporate and let the bottoms of the gyoza get crispy again.  Remove from pan and serve the gyoza with your favorite dipping sauce.


Quick Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon garlic chili paste

In a small bowl combine the soy sauce and garlic chili paste and stir until combined.