Gyoza are Japan's take on the Chinese jiaozi: thinner wrappers, finer filling, and that signature finish where the dumpling is fried, steamed, then fried again so the base turns glassy-crisp while the top stays soft. They are the best seller from our dumplings and steamed gyoza section, and they are absolutely makeable at home.
Two details decide whether yours work: squeezing the cabbage properly dry so the filling is not watery, and resisting the urge to lift the lid during the steam. Everything else is practice, and even your ugly ones will taste great.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 300g chicken thigh mince
- 150g white cabbage, finely shredded and salted
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 30 gyoza wrappers
To cook and serve
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 100ml water, for steaming
- 1 tsp sesame oil, to finish
- Dipping sauce: 2 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, chilli oil to taste
Method
1. Make the filling
Salt the shredded cabbage, leave it for 10 minutes, then squeeze it hard in a clean tea towel until no more water comes out. Mix it with the chicken, spring onion, garlic, ginger, soy, sesame oil and white pepper, stirring in one direction until the filling turns slightly sticky.
2. Fold and pleat
Place a teaspoon of filling in the centre of a wrapper and wet the edge with water. Fold into a half-moon, then make three or four small pleats on the front edge to the right of centre, pressing each against the flat back edge, and repeat to the left. The pleats bow the dumpling so it stands on a flat base.
3. Fry, steam, fry
Heat the oil in a lidded frying pan over medium-high heat. Stand the gyoza in the pan pleats-up and fry for one to two minutes until the bases are golden. Pour in the water, cover immediately and steam for six to seven minutes until the wrappers are translucent and the water has gone.
4. The crispy finish
Remove the lid, drizzle a little sesame oil around the edges and fry for another 30 to 60 seconds until the bottoms crackle. Serve crisp-side up with the dipping sauce.
Tips from the kitchen
- Thigh mince stays juicy through the double fry. Breast mince dries out.
- Keep unused wrappers under a damp cloth or they crack when you pleat.
- Freeze uncooked gyoza on a tray, then bag them. Cook from frozen with an extra two minutes of steam.
Rather we made it for you?
Or let us do the pleating: chicken gyoza are steamed and fried to order in the Aluna kitchen. See the full food menu or book a table, Angel.