Blog

By Erika Guzman, Recent ASU Nutrition Student

One of my favorite foods I make at home are gyozas or pot stickers. I didn’t start making them until after I moved; it was a request from a new friend I made at work and I wanted to prove I could make my picky friend a meal that she would enjoy without telling her what’s inside! In short, gyozas were a success! I hid oyster mushrooms, and only later to find out she was slightly disgusted that I hid that much mushroom in her meal. If I never told her what was inside, she would’ve been just as happy.

This recipe was used over and over again for meals, events, and get-togethers and it was enjoyed by all types of eaters. It’s a fun way to introduce a new cuisine filled with vegetables to someone, and it even allows you to hide those vegetables for the picky eaters. Once you master the pleating technique, who would want to ruin those beautiful little morsels? To enjoy as a meal, try coconut ginger rice, warm soba noodles, or coconut curry soup with the gyozas!

Wrappers – makes about 30

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ½ cup water, boiled
• potato starch/corn starch

OR You can buy some wrappers at the local Asian market. So. Much. Easier.

1. Sift flour into a bowl.
2. Add salt to the boiled water until dissolved and mix into flour a little at a time, using a spoon or spatula.
3. Once the water isn’t as hot, use your hands to help the dough form a ball. If it’s too dry, add a 1 tsp of water at a time to get the consistency.
4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until elasticky. Cut in half and allow to rest for 30 minutes, covered.
5. Once rested, unwrap the dough and sprinkle flour or starch on work surface and roll lengthwise, and cut in pieces.
6. Shape and roll pieces into small discs.

Filling- fills about 30

• 1 lb. oyster mushrooms, minced *note*ANY mushroom will do; oyster, shiitake, and baby portabellas are nice and hearty. If you don’t have mushrooms, eggplant works very well too!

• 1-1.5 cup cabbage, shredded and finely chopped

• 1 whole carrot, peeled and sliced

• 1-inch ginger, minced

• 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced

• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped

• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce

• 1 tsp white or coconut palm sugar

• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar or white vinegar

• 1 tsp cooking rice wine/sake

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• *optional: 2 tsp beef broth (this adds a nice beefy flavor for your non-vegetarian friends)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Let it sit for 5 minutes for the liquids to soak into the veggies.

1. Grab 1 -2 tsp (depending on how big the wrapper is) and fill the wrapper in the middle.

1. Dab water to the edges and pleat/fold edges. (There should be a video on YouTube. If you can’t pleat, just folding over and sealing it is just fine.)

1. In a med (or med-high) heated oiled skillet, add gyozas neatly in the skillet. Let cook for about 1 minute or until the bottom is brown. Flip each one onto the side.

1. Add about 1 tbsp of water to pan and cover for 3 to 4 minutes, until the surface of the dough looks shiny and clings to the filling inside.

1. If you like it a little crispy, make sure the bottom of that side is crispy golden brown as well. Remove and cover while you cook the rest of the gyozas.

7. Enjoy with a 3:1 ratio sauce mixture of rice wine vinegar or black vinegar (3) to soy sauce (1) and sliced ginger.

For more awesome recipes check out the Fill Your Plate recipe section! Fill Your Plate has hundreds of recipes to choose from!