Gyoza, possibly one of my favorite starters or entree if you have enough, are extremely versitile. You take your favorite fillings whether meat, vegetables, or a mix of all the goodies and wrap them up in a thin wrapper, then cook to your version of perfection. This dish while originating in China, I feel, has become one of the most popular dishes people accociate with Japan (just like ramen, but that is a story for a different day.) In this weeks recipe I gave a nice little veggie filling you can test out with all these different methods.
Let's talk about just a few of the different ways we can cook the same dumpling to create different final products! We are going to go from most to least crispy.
First we have Fried or Age-Gyoza (ah-geh). These dumplings have been deep fried to a golden crunch. I find these to be a little more common at Chinese style restaurants, but when your gyoza have that perfect color and crunch, it is amazing.
Next we have our Yaki-Gyoza, yaki meaning grilled, which is my favorite variation. These are the ones pictured above from my recent trip and at one of my favorite places to get gyoza in Osaka. The restaurant actually recommends not using any sauce with them since they are so juicy. Now these get tossed in a pan with some fat and turned crispy on the bottom before being finished off by some steam. This leaves a crispy bottom and a softer top. The best of both worlds.
Third we have Mushi-Gyoza, or steamed gyoza. These dumplings are cooked in a bamboo steamer which results in the thin dough being translucent and teasing the flavors that are hiding inside the dumpling. This steamed dough will have a nice soft texture all around.
Last on our crispy to not crispy scale we have sui-gyoza, or water dumplings. As the name hints at, these are either boiled in water or cooked in some type of broth. The dumpling is the softest and the dough is hydrated by the broth some and helps carry the flavor. This dumpling dough will be tender and chewy rather than crispy and crunchy.
I hope this helped give a better idea of your options when you are out to eat. Now next time they ask if you want them steamed, grilled, or fried you will be ready to order! As always if you have anyo questions please feel free to reach out to us and thank you for taking the time to read.
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