⏱ Prep: 30 min 🔥Cook: 15 min 👤Makes: 30–35 dumplings 🌍Method: Fry-steam
Japanese gyoza recipe is the dumpling that every ramen restaurant serves and every person who has eaten one wants to learn to make at home. Ground pork mixed until sticky with finely chopped cabbage, garlic chives, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake and sesame oil, folded into thin wrappers and cooked using the Japanese fry-steam method that produces a shatteringly crispy base and a tender, juicy top in a single pan. Forty-five minutes. The entire batch disappears in under ten.
Ingredients
For the gyoza filling
- ½ lb (225g) ground pork, not too lean. 80/20 pork produces a juicy, flavourful filling. Very lean pork produces a dry, crumbly filling even when well seasoned. Do not substitute with ground chicken or turkey as a first attempt, pork is the authentic filling and the most forgiving.
- 1½ cups (150g) green cabbage or napa cabbage, very finely shredded, salted and squeezed of all moisture before using. This is the most important prep step in the entire recipe, see step 1.
- ¼ cup (25g) garlic chives (nira), finely chopped, the aromatic that most identifies gyoza as Japanese. Available at H Mart and Asian grocery stores. Substitute: 3 scallions finely chopped, the flavour is milder but works well.
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake, or dry sherry. Adds a clean fermented depth. Substitute: 1 teaspoon rice vinegar plus 2 teaspoons water.
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch, binds the filling and helps keep it cohesive inside the wrapper during cooking
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt, adjust after tasting the raw filling, the saltiness of the finished filling should be quite pronounced since the wrapper absorbs some salt
For wrapping and cooking
- 30–35 round gyoza wrappers, store-bought. Available refrigerated or frozen at H Mart and Asian grocery stores. Do not substitute with wonton wrappers without trimming them to circles, wonton wrappers are square and thicker. Keep covered with a damp kitchen towel at all times, gyoza wrapper edges dry out within minutes and cracked dry edges do not seal properly.
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil, per batch for frying
- ⅓ cup (80ml) water, per batch for steaming
For the dipping sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, the tartness that cuts through the richness of the fried pork
- 1 teaspoon chili oil, rayu Japanese chili oil is the most authentic. Any chili oil works.
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Step by step
- Salt and squeeze the cabbage, the most important step. Finely shred the cabbage. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and toss. Leave for 10 minutes, the salt draws out significant water. Then take the cabbage in both hands and squeeze firmly until no more liquid comes out. Really squeeze the cabbage should feel almost dry. This step is non-negotiable.Unsqueezed cabbage releases water inside the dumpling during cooking and produces a soggy, wet filling that steams rather than fries properly. The filling must be dry enough that when you press a small amount between your fingers no liquid runs out.
- Make the filling. Combine ground pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, salt and white pepper in a large bowl. Mix vigorously with your hand or a wooden spoon for 2 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky and slightly pale, the fat from the pork begins to melt from the warmth of your hands and the proteins bind together.Kneading until sticky is the technique confirmed by Just One Cookbook: kneading binds the meat proteins so the texture is springy and smooth. Under-mixed filling crumbles inside the wrapper during cooking. Mixed until sticky produces a cohesive filling that stays together and has a pleasantly springy bite.
- Add the cabbage and chives. Add the squeezed cabbage and chopped garlic chives to the pork mixture. Fold gently to combine, do not over-mix at this stage, just distribute the vegetables evenly. Refrigerate the filling for 15 minutes if possible, it firms slightly and makes wrapping significantly easier.
- Fold the gyoza. Keep the wrappers covered with a damp towel. Take one wrapper. Place 1 heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre, do not overfill. Dip a finger in water and run it around the entire edge of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half to form a half-moon. Press the centre point to seal. Starting from the centre, pleat the front edge toward the centre 3 times on each side to form 6 pleats total. Press each pleat firmly against the back edge to seal completely. Place sealed-side-up on a parchment-lined tray. The pleat is not just decorative, it creates the flat base that allows the gyoza to stand upright in the pan and develop an even crispy bottom. A flat, firmly sealed base is more important than perfect pleating. First-time pleating looks rough, the filling and flavour are identical regardless.
- The fry-steam-crisp method. Heat 2 tablespoons of neutral oil in a wide non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the gyoza flat-side down in a single layer, do not crowd. Fry undisturbed for 2–3 minutes until the bases are deep golden brown and visibly crispy. Without moving the gyoza, carefully pour ⅓ cup of water into the pan, it will hiss and steam violently. Cover immediately with a tight-fitting lid. Steam for 3–4 minutes until the water evaporates completely. Remove the lid. Increase heat to high and cook for 1–2 more minutes until the bases crisp up again and any remaining moisture evaporates. The three stages, fry, steam, crisp, are the entire technique. Frying sets the crispy base. Steaming cooks the filling through and the top of the wrapper tender. The final uncovered stage restores the crispiness that the steam softened. Do not skip the final crisping stage.
- Serve immediately. Slide a thin spatula under the gyoza and flip the entire batch onto a plate in one motion, crispy-side up. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce alongside. Gyoza lose their crispiness within 5 minutes, eat them the moment they land on the plate.
The three things that matter
Squeeze every drop of water from the cabbage. Wet cabbage produces soggy filling. No exceptions.
Knead the pork filling until it is sticky and slightly pale, about 2 minutes of vigorous mixing. Sticky filling stays together inside the wrapper and has a springy, satisfying texture. Under-mixed filling crumbles.
Do not skip the final crisping stage after steaming. The steam softens the base, the final 2 minutes uncovered on high heat restores the crunch that makes gyoza worth making from scratch.
Freezing and batch cooking
Claire’s note
Gyoza freeze perfectly, this is the entire point of making them from scratch. Arrange uncooked wrapped gyoza on a parchment-lined tray and freeze for 1 hour until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag. Cook directly from frozen, add 2 minutes to the steaming time. Frozen gyoza keep for 3 months. Make a large batch on a Sunday afternoon, it takes the same effort to make 60 as it does to make 30, and having a bag of gyoza in the freezer means a restaurant-quality dinner is 15 minutes away on any weeknight. The filling can also be made up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated, wrap and cook fresh the next day.
Serve with
Gyoza are a starter or a side alongside ramen, the classic Japanese restaurant pairing. The dipping sauce in this recipe is the standard Japanese version: soy sauce, rice vinegar and chili oil in a 3:1:1 ratio, tart, salty and just enough heat. For more from the Japanese collection, the miso salmon, the chicken yakitori and the complete Japanese recipes.
Add gyoza to your weekly meal planner, make a large batch Sunday, freeze half, cook half. Dinner from frozen in 15 minutes any night of the week. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.
Print
Japanese Gyoza
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 30–35 dumplings 1x
- Diet: Pork, Gluten (due to wrappers)
Description
Authentic Japanese dumplings stuffed with a flavorful ground pork filling, cooked using a fry-steam method for a perfect balance of crispy and tender.
Ingredients
- ½ lb (225g) ground pork
- 1½ cups (150g) green cabbage or napa cabbage, finely shredded
- ¼ cup (25g) garlic chives, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 30–35 round gyoza wrappers
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil for frying
- ⅓ cup (80ml) water for steaming
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce for dipping
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Salt and squeeze the cabbage, the most important step. Finely shred the cabbage and place it in a bowl with salt. Toss and let sit for 10 minutes before squeezing out the moisture.
- Make the filling. Combine ground pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and white pepper in a bowl. Mix vigorously for 2 minutes until sticky.
- Add the squeezed cabbage and chopped garlic chives to the pork mixture and fold gently to combine. Refrigerate the filling for 15 minutes.
- Fold the gyoza. Place a wrapper on a surface, add 1 heaped teaspoon of filling, and seal by dipping a finger in water around the edge and pressing together.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add gyoza flat side down, and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Carefully pour in water, cover, and steam for 3-4 minutes until evaporated.
- Remove the lid and increase heat to high, cooking for another 1-2 minutes until crispy.
- Serve immediately with the dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
Squeeze every drop of water from the cabbage for best results. Gyoza freeze well; cook directly from frozen, adding 2 minutes to steaming time.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Fry-steam
- Cuisine: Japanese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (2-3 dumplings)
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 420mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
