Best Pork Gyoza

These Japanese gyoza highlight the tantalizing interplay between the crisp pan-fried wrapper and blissfully juicy pork and cabbage filling.

Refined over 30 years of experiments, this Pork Gyoza delivers an unmatched combination of juicy, flavorful filling and crisp, golden wrapper that'll give the best gyoza shops in Japan a run for their money.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Japanese-Chinese

Keyword dumpling

Level Intermediate

Main Ingredient Pork

Diet Dairy-Free

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 447kcal

Author Marc Matsumoto

Equipment

Ingredients

550 grams cabbage (halved)
130 grams garlic chives (finely chopped)
350 grams ground pork
30 grams ginger (grated)
3 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon white pepper
80 gyoza wrappers (9cm or 3.5 inches wide)
¼ cup vegetable oil (divided)

Grams + US Cups - US Standard

Instructions

Find a pot that's large enough to hold both halves of 550 grams cabbage, and then fill it with 6 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of table salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the cabbage, and cover the pot with a lid.
550 grams cabbage
Cook the cabbage until it's tender enough for a skewer to easily pass through the thickest part of the stem (about 15 minutes). Then, use tongs to transfer the cabbage to a tray and let it cool enough to handle.
Once the cabbage has cooled a bit, it will still be juicy but do NOT squeeze it. Slice it up in one direction, then turn it 90 degrees and chop it up. Go back over it several times with your knife until the cabbage is minced into pieces that are no larger than ⅛-inch (3mm).
Transfer the minced cabbage and any accumulated juices on the cutting board to a large bowl. Add the 130 grams garlic chives, 350 grams ground pork, 30 grams ginger, 3 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce, and ¼ teaspoon white pepper.
130 grams garlic chives, 350 grams ground pork, 30 grams ginger, 3 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Use your hand to mix the gyoza filling ingredients together in a circular motion until the mixture is uniform and all sticks together. Ideally, you want to cover and let this rest in the fridge overnight, but you can continue if you are in a rush.
To wrap the gyoza, open your package of 80 gyoza wrappers and place them under a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out. Prepare a small bowl of water.
80 gyoza wrappers
Place a gyoza wrapper on the palm of your non-dominant hand and then scoop about a tablespoon of gyoza filling into the center of the wrapper. Next, wet the fingers of your other hand and trace them around the edges of the wrapper to wet them.
Fold the wrapper in half over the filling, and use the fingers of your dominant hand to fold pleats into the edge of the top half of the wrapper as you seal it shut. Repeat until you run out of filling, lining the dumplings up on a parchment paper lined tray. Be sure to keep them covered with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out. Watch the video above for the full technique.
To cook the gyoza, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Line the dumplings up in a circle around the edge of the pan. This should leave room for two more gyoza in the center. I usually fit eighteen to twenty gyoza into my 10-inch pan.
¼ cup vegetable oil
With a lid on standby, add ¼ cup of water and immediately cover the pan with the lid. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, turn down the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Set the timer for 3 minutes.
When the timer is up, remove the lid from the pan and turn up the heat to medium-high to burn off any remaining liquid and crisp the bottom of the potstickers. The gyoza are done when they are golden brown on the bottom.
Flip the gyoza out onto a plate so the browned side is facing up (be careful not to splash yourself with hot oil) and serve immediately with gyoza sauce.

Video

Nutrition