Pork, Prawn, Kimchi and Leek Gyoza

Pork, Prawn, Kimchi and Leek Gyoza

• April 16, 2015

There are many ways of making gyoza, which is also commonly known as dumpling, potsticker or mandoo depending on who is making them, or where you're eating them. 


I don't stick with a particular recipe, as I've made many variations in the past. Pork with chives, pork and prawns with Chinese leaf, tofu with shiitake mushrooms - any combination is possible. You need to pick a protein item, pick a veg item, bind it with egg, add the usual Asian seasonings and it's a great filling. 

This recipe I'm sharing is for 2 different gyoza fillings. First is the pork, prawn, leek and kimchi dumpling, and second one is minus the kimchi. 

I decided to make 2 different batches, as I wanted some spicy and some non-spicy. If you have time and freezer space, it's a great idea to make more than you need. Freeze half of it and you have fresh homemade gyozas whenever you want. If you do plan to freeze them, make sure you shake some flour into the bottom of the container and also coat the gyozas too. This will prevent them from sticking together.

The recipe is at the bottom, but first, I'll let the photos do the talking.

Gather your ingredients.

Chop the kimchi.

Roughly chop the prawns.

Divide the pork mince, prawns and sliced leeks evenly into 2 large bowls. 

This is bowl 1 with added kimchi.

Bowl 2 without the kimchi.

Mix bowl 1 with added seasoning. 


Mix bowl 2 with added seasoning.

Gyoza filling is ready, so let's get wrapping. There are many ways of wrapping and pleating the gyoza, and no way is right or wrong. Here's my way which I find easy.

Spoon roughly 1 teaspoon of filling into the centre of a gyoza wrapper. Wet the rims of the wrapper. Finger and bowl of water will do the trick.

Fold in half.

Make a pleat in the middle. I tend to fold from right to left, on the front of the gyoza.

Move along to right of the gyoza and repeat.

Repeat again. you should now have 3 pleats including the centre pleat. 

Move to the left side, and fold the remaining 2 pleats tucking them behind rather than at the front. This way you get the same pleat pattern on the dumpling. 5 pleats to a gyoza is perfect, but more is also fine. 

Once pleats are completed, make sure you go over them and just press down again to firmly seal it. Add more water to help bind it if necessary.

Lay the gyoza on an oven tray or plate and dust with flour first. This will prevent the wrappers from getting stuck onto the tray.

Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan on high heat, and lay the gyozas in. Let it crisp the bottoms for 2 minutes.

Add enough water to half cover the gyoza, and put the lid on if you have one. Reduce the heat down to simmer so that the gyozas have time to steam cook.

After 5-7 mins, take off the lid, turn heat back on high, and let the rest of the water evaporate. Fry for a further 2-3 mins until the bottoms are crispy again and no water is left.

The gyozas are ready!

I served mine on a bed of salad for a healthier dinner choice, and drizzled a spicy and tangy sauce on top. It's the same sauce I used for my sriracha salmon recipe. Just mix together teriyaki sauce, white wine vinegar, sriracha chilli sauce and maple syrup.

Below is the recipe. You can halve the amount if you don't want to make so many in one go.
And if you still have left over gyoza wrappers or filling, heat up some oil in the frying pan and just fry until cooked. Here is my wrapper 'crisp'. 

Ingredients:

Bowl 1

375g pork mince

x14 prawns, roughly chopped

x1/2 leek, finely sliced

4 tbsp kimchi

3 egg yolks (fine to use 1 egg instead, I had leftover yolks to finish up)

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp shaoxing wine or whiskey

1 tsp sesame oil 

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp cornstarch or cornflour

1 tsp oil

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp oil for frying 

Bowl 2

375g pork mince

x14 prawns, roughly chopped

x1/2 leek, finely sliced

3 egg yolks (fine to use 1 egg instead, I had leftover yolks to finish up)

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp shaoxing wine or whiskey

1 tsp sesame oil 

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp cornstarch or cornflour

1 tsp oil

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp oil for frying


Method:

1. Apart from the oil for frying, mix together all the contents of bowl 1 and repeat for bowl 2

2. Add 1 teaspoon of filling per wrapper

3. Wrap gyoza and make pleats to seal the filling

4. Repeat until there is no more filling/wrappers

5. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a non stick frying pan on high heat. Lay the gyoza in the pan and take care not to overcrowd them. Fry for 2 minutes.

6. Add enough water to half cover the gyozas. Turn the heat down to low, put the lid in and simmer for 5-7 mins

7. Take off the lid and turn heat on high. Let the remaining water evaporate. Fry for a further 2-3 mins until the bottoms are crispy again and no water is left

8. Serve with your favourite dip or use my spicy sriratcha dip made with, 3 tbsp teriyaki sauce, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup mixed together

9. Enjoy whilst hot!