Gyoza

Grate or dice the cabbage into very small pieces, then toss the cabbage and salt in a colander and place inside a medium bowl. After the salt has had a chance to draw out the moisture from the cabbage dump it onto a couple of layers of paper towl and give it a good squeeze. Get as much of the moisture out as possible, then put it in the fridge to chill for 1/2 hour.

Combine the cabbage with the other filling ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (minimum of 30 minutes, no more than 24 hours).

Now get wrapping. There are plenty of instructions online of how to wrap gyoza properly. The easiest way is to plac the wrapper in the centre of your palm, and put a small amount of the pork mixture in the center. Wet the tip of your finger and rub it around the top side and fold over the skin pressing the two sides together. Most gyoza have pleats. You can find instructions here.

It takes patience and practice to get the pleats just right. (Personally I think it’s not worth the time…so I cheated a bit. Using a round cookie cutter with a flutted edge cut the shape out of a stack of wonton papers and just fold it over. Looks almost like pleats and they taste just as nice.)

After folding each wonton place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Pop the entire tray in the freezer if you’re not going to eat them right away.

Oil the bottom of a large frying pan. Add gyoza to the pan, and place it over a medium-high heat and cook it for about 5 minutes, or until the bottoms become golden brown. Once brown add a little bit of water to the pan to create a little steam. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, if the steam runs out add a little more water. Serve with dipping sauce and eat while hot!