gyoza with a lot of cabbages

I have been wanting to make Chinese dumplings (gyoza) for a while. This past weekend I finally made some! I used a whole cabbage for the filling, and because I didn't want to pull out the food processor, I cut the cabbage into pieces by hand, and therefore the pieces are not as "chopped" as it probably should have been, nor uniform. The dumplings turned out yummy, though, and I esprecially enjoyed the texture of the bigger veggie pieces.

Homemade Chinese Dumplings / Gyoza

Ingredients (filling):

1 lb. ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Hondashi seasoning (optional)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon oil (I use olive oil)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 head chopped cabbage + 1 teaspoon salt
6 "sticks" chopped green onions
1 Tablespoon grated ginger root (optional)

2-3 packages of storebought gyoza skins or homemade ones. I use the two packages that were in my freezer. Thaw before use, of course.

First place the chopped cabbage in a large bowl. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over the cabbage and "squeeze" the salt and the cabbage together. Set aside. This will allow some extra water from the cabbage to come out. Drain (if there's water) before combining with the pork.

Mix the ground pork, salt, Hondashi seasoning (optional), soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, and white pepper in a large mixing bowl and stir until everything are "bonded". Add the chopped cabbage, chopped green onions, and grated ginger (optional). Mix well. Now you have your filling. Yay.



Place a gyoza skin in your left palm. Use a pair of chopsticks to pick up about 2 Tablespoons filling and place in the center of the skin. Wet the edges (not necessary if using homemade fresh gyoza skins) before closing the dumpling. I like to make little folds on them... seem to help closing up the dumplings better. Repeat until either the filling or the skins run out. I never know how many dumplings I'm making. I made about 45 the other day and I still have way more than half of the filling left. I'm guessing this recipe probably makes 100-120 dumplings.

Lightly dust a place with flour. Place each of the dumplings on the place after it's made. After completing a plate, stick it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. The dumplings will harden and you can bag them and store them in the freezer.


Nuki wants some dumplings too.

To cook the dumplings, first boil a large pot of water. Add the dumplings, stir with long chopsticks to prevent sticking. Wait until the water boils again and turn the heat to medium-low (just enough to keep the water boilig) for about 7 minutes. Drain and serve with dipipng sauce, or in soups.

To make the dipping sauce: Cominbe soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil to taste.

So this is the deal... the dumplings look pretty good before cooking this time, but after I boiled them a lot of the skings fell apart. I think it was because I used the package of gyoza skins that was in the freezer too long. They were still very delicious... just broken-looking. :(

I still have a lot of filling left. I think I'm going to make my own gyoza skins for it. I'll post the recipe for the homemade gyoza skins soon-ish (when I figured out the right ratio for flour and water.)

Oh, and if you're just tired of making dumplings but still have too much filling left... make little patties and fry them in a pan. I've done it a few times, and the patties were super yummy by themselves or with rolls!