Name: Alison Birch Harada
Class Year: 1987
Country of Residence: Hong Kong

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

These easy Japanese dumplings are a favorite in my Japanese husband’s family. Making them is a good group project and a great way to gather together, chatting and trying to make all of the dumplings come out the same size.

Gyoza

Serves 2-4. Takes approx. 1 hour

Ingredients:

Dumpling filling:
200g minced Pork
80g cabbage
40g chives
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
salt and white pepper to taste

Slurry for frying:
Pinch of salt
50 ml water
2 tablespoons starch (corn starch or potato starch)

Other ingredients:
20 round dumpling wrappers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
small dish of water

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the cabbage and chives by hand or in a food processor, squeezing out as much liquid as possible
2. Add a pinch of salt and a smaller pinch of white pepper to the minced pork and knead well.
3. When the ground pork becomes sticky, add the cabbage and chives along with the ginger, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil and continue to knead well.
4. When the dumpling filling ingredients are well distributed, place a bite-sized piece of filling on one side of the gyoza wrapper
5. Bring up the other side of the wrapper and wrap the dumpling into a pouch, pinching the edges into pleats.  Use a small amount of water on the edge of the wrapper as a glue to hold it together
6. Lightly coat the bottom of a non-stick frying pan with oil and place half the dumplings in it.
7. Cook the dumplings over high heat for one of two minutes until the bottom of the dumplings are light brown
8. When they start to brown, add half the starch slurry to create a thin layer over the bottom of the pan, cover with a lid, and steam over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
9. When the dumplings are cooked through, remove the lid and cook over high heat until all of the water is evaporated 
10. Repeat with the other 10 dumplings 
11. Serve with a dipping sauce of Japanese or Chinese vinegar, soy sauce and chili oil and enjoy!

Source: Harada family recipe