Who’d have thought that after all these years of being passed dim sum, I’ve never shared an actual recipe of them?? About time I did, and what better kind to start with than the easiest of them all: chicken gyoza a.k.a potstickers. This chicken gyoza recipe was given to me by the sweetest Japanese colleague a girl could ask for: Sachiko San. Today, on Instagram live, my good friend and foodie soul sister Sooey and I made these chicken gyoza along with my Instafam, and it was a big, fun virtual quarantine cook along.

This recipe is very simple and highly adaptable. The only essential item you need is a pack of gyoza wrappers, and the filling can be anything that floats your boat. Most people prefer a mix of protein and vegetables, but you do you. You could always make gyoza wrappers from scratch too, especially if you have a pasta maker (I feel like this is what the 9th setting was made for), but unless you enjoy the process of rolling out think sheets of dough, you might as well buy the store-bought gyoza wrappers from your nearest Asian store and be assured they’ll do the job. Gluten-free versions are also available in some places, so everyone can rejoice. I buy my gyoza wrappers from 1004 Gourmet and have zero complaints. I ordered the chicken mince from Carnistore, because their meat and poultry is the best and they make my life so much easier and send me everything individually packaged, in the exact quantities I need, as soon as I need them.

Some important tips I’d like to share (which I naturally learnt the hard way as I did minimal research before I set off to make these and believe more in learning through experience):

• Make sure there is no excess liquid in your gyoza filling. By this, I mean if you rinse your mince, make sure it’s properly drained. If you’re using a food processor to chop up the cabbage, the juices will bleed out naturally, so make sure you squeeze out all the excess liquid. If you hand-chop the cabbage, or the juices don’t naturally bleed out, make sure you Todd it in a spoon of salt and let it sit for 10 minutes so the juices do bleed out.
• Make a small cutlet of of your filling and fry it before you start making your gyozas. This allows you to taste the filling and adjust the seasoning if you’d like
• Never skip the toasted sesame oil. It makes ALL the difference
• If your gyoza wrappers are  frozen, keep them in the fridge the night before you’ll use them, so that they can thaw. While you’re using them, keep them covered in a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out, but make sure the cloth isn’t touching the wrappers
• When sealing the gyozas, I’d suggest using a brush or a knife to apply water in the seams, as it’s preferable to keep your hands as dry as possible
• Make sure you don’t overstuff your gyozas- it only makes them harder to seal
• Use a non-stick pan and a lid when cooking the gyozas. It enables you to use less oil, which means a crispy and less oily base. You need the lid for when you add some water

For the pleating, this youtube video (not by me) explains it best: https://www.youtube.com

Ok, here we go, the recipe for the chicken gyoza:

Ingredients for chicken gyoza :

• 300 grams chicken mince
• 300 grams finely chopped cabbage
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp miso paste (optional and also interchangeable with the soy sauce)
• 1 Tbs chopped ginger
• 1 Tbs chopped garlic
• 100 grams chopped chives or scallions
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder or crushed bouillon
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Method for chicken gyoza :

1. Make sure you gyoza wrappers are thawed
2. Mix all the other ingredients together (make sure any excess liquid from the mince and cabbage has been squeezed out before the mixing)
3. Place the gyoza wrapper in the palm of your hand
4. Place about a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the gyoza, and start pleating
5. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat, and brush it with some neutral cooking oil or cooking spray
6. Place the gyozas flat-side down into the pan until you get a dark golden to light brown crust on the flat/bottom side. Then (with the pan lid in hand like a shield), quickly pour very little water into the pan (about 2-3 tablespoons), and cover the pan with a lid. This allows for steam to build up and cook the top sides. If you’d like, you can even flip the gyoza to brown the second side (the side that’s the back-side of the pleating)  before you do the steaming, but you do need to steam at least 1 out of the 3 sides.
7. If you’ll be freezing your gyozas, place the gyozas in a plate that will fit into your freezer, and as soon as that plate is full, pop it into the freezer. Once they’re semi-frozen, move them into a ziplock or stasher bag and you can keep them for upto a month. If the gyozas seem to stick to the plate once frozen, let them thaw a bit until them come off with little to no force
8. Serve with a dipping sauce of choice. I prefer a sauce that has some saltiness, some acidity and some freshness, like a yuzu ponzu with some ginger and scallions. I also like to sometimes offer a spicy Chinese Szechuan peppercorn oil.