Here is yet another example of a food for which "Asian" is a nice safe category. Like some of the other delicacies we've mentioned, it appears proudly flourishing various nom de plumes in various Asian countries, and since I happen to be Japanese, I call it Gyoza or Potstickers. I believe this particular recipe was passed down by a Chinese friend to my mother years ago, though, kind of like wikipedia tells me that the original recipe was passed from the Chinese to apparently everyone else who was up for some yummy goodness.
While I confess to being a bit of a snob in preferring homemade gyoza to the ones in packets, I freely admit to having never made them entirely from scratch. I start out with a package of round wrappers available by the tofu in the grocery store.
The base of the recipe is plain old ground beef and spinach. What makes the resulting tiny savory bundles such a beautiful fireworks display in the mouth is the perfect combination of strong complementary flavors.
Once everything is mixed in, it's time to fill the wrappers. An itty dot of the beef/spinach/tastiness is placed in the center of each circle, and then the wrapper is folded in half with a smudge of water to moisten the edges, like the flap of an envelope. I generally crimp the edge three times, but my brother likes to be artistic with his completed gyoza. You can be creative, too, so long as you make sure the edge is sufficiently secured and won't pop open when cooking, especially if you plan to deep fry. (sorry, no photo of this step, as my hands were covered in raw meat haha)
Proceed to cook in your preferred style. There are plenty of possibilities.... I generally steam them (see above) as my mom generally does, but if you deep fry, you can cook the extra wrappers by themselves, and they turn out quite yummy.
Enjoy!
I know I'm terribly terribly biased, but I love my mom's recipe so much that nothing ever measures up to it. I avoid eating potstickers even from the awe-inspiring King Eggroll because they just don't taste right. But these? I can eat them by the dozens. Literally. Bring it on!
Gyoza (or Potstickers):
1lb ground beef
1 box frozen/cooked spinach
5 green onions, diced
chopped garlic
grated ginger (1Tbsp or so)
5Tbsp soy sauce
2Tbsp sesame oil
5Tbsp sherry
Mix ingredients.
Package of round pot sticker wrappers
Bowl of water
In each round wrapper, place between a tsp and a Tbsp of mixture. Dip finger in water and moisten edge of circle, then fold in half. Crimp the edge three or four times to keep edges together. Repeat until supply of wrappers or mixture is exhausted.
Steam by placing in a frying pan (pressed together, seam side up) with water + a dab of sesame oil and covering over medium low heat until cooked
OR
Pan fry with oil in frying pan over heat until cooked
OR
Deep fry with oil in pot over heat until cooked
OR
Boil with hot water in pot over heat until cooked
OR
Bake?
OR
???
Serve with rice and a sauce made up of
One part soy sauce
One part vinegar
1lb ground beef
1 box frozen/cooked spinach
5 green onions, diced
chopped garlic
grated ginger (1Tbsp or so)
5Tbsp soy sauce
2Tbsp sesame oil
5Tbsp sherry
Mix ingredients.
Package of round pot sticker wrappers
Bowl of water
In each round wrapper, place between a tsp and a Tbsp of mixture. Dip finger in water and moisten edge of circle, then fold in half. Crimp the edge three or four times to keep edges together. Repeat until supply of wrappers or mixture is exhausted.
Steam by placing in a frying pan (pressed together, seam side up) with water + a dab of sesame oil and covering over medium low heat until cooked
OR
Pan fry with oil in frying pan over heat until cooked
OR
Deep fry with oil in pot over heat until cooked
OR
Boil with hot water in pot over heat until cooked
OR
Bake?
OR
???
Serve with rice and a sauce made up of
One part soy sauce
One part vinegar
April 22, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Yum! About how long does it take to steam them?
April 22, 2010 at 8:41 PM
These look soooooooooo good. I "starred" it. We'll see if I actually make them though. :)
April 22, 2010 at 11:41 PM
Thanks
April 23, 2010 at 11:59 PM
Er.... I didn't put a time because basically this whole recipe is a "glob of this and a pinch of that and cook for a bit" sort of thing. *blush* I cook it until the outer gets semi translucent.
April 26, 2010 at 7:51 PM
They look sooooo yummy!
April 27, 2010 at 5:21 AM
I will have to try this, the recipe looks great!
Oh, and that picture of the two of you in the sidebar is one of the cutest things I've seen all week!
May 1, 2010 at 11:36 PM
Wow! I love gyoza! That was my favorite food while in China!
Post a Comment