Gyoza or gyoza is a famous Chinese pastry that was widespread in Japanese cuisine. In China this dish is known as Jiaozi, its dough is similar to that of the common pastel, but it is steamed and then lightly fried or grilled.
Gyoza is usually stuffed with meat and vegetables, it has an oblate shape and is eaten together with a soy-based sauce. Its dough is not crunchy like a pastel as it is cooked, it is actually moist, but tasty.
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Gyoza's history
The first Gyoza, which usually has a thicker dough and was just cooked, came to Japan in the Edo period through Zhu Shun Shui who was visiting Japan and made Gyoza for Daimyo Tokugawa Mitsukuni.
The popular Japanese Gyoza that we know today only came to Japan after the second world war. Japanese returned from China to Japan and started selling Gyoza with a much thinner dough, due to food shortages.
Fun facts about Gyoza
There are 3 main types of Gyoza which are:
- You Yaki Gyoza (fried gyoza), they are fried in a hot skillet before being boiled in water and steam;
- You Sui Gyoza they are boiled and served with a light broth;
- You Age Gyoza are fried until very crispy;
Gyoza can be found in specialty restaurants, street food stalls, some ramen restaurants, Chinese restaurants, and izakaya. Gyoza usually cost around 300 to 600 yen for half a dozen.
Gyoza is often enjoyed with a vinegary soy sauce. Sometimes a little Rayu pepper oil is added. Gyoza are popular in Utsunomiya, Tochigi and Hamamatsu. Some specialty restaurants offer Gyoza stuffed with shrimp, cheese or unconventional ingredients.
Gyoza recipe
Below we will teach a Gyoza recipe. It is worth remembering that you can also use the common pastry dough that you buy in markets.
Ingredients of the dough
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- 1 and 1/4 cups of warm water.
- 3 cups of wheat flour or 2 cups of wheat flour and 1 cup of rice or tapioca flour.
making the dough
- In a bowl place the flour and salt;
- Mix and add the water little by little, until the dough is homogeneous and leaves the hand;
- Place the dough in a plastic bag, close it and let it rest for 1 to 2 hours;
Stuffing Ingredients
- 500g of ground beef;
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
- 1 teaspoon of salt.
- 1 tablespoon of rice wine.
- A little ground pepper.
- 3 tablespoons of sesame oil.
- 1 stalk of chives or onion, finely chopped.
- A little chopped cabbage.
- A little fresh ginger, finely chopped.
- A little chopped chard (optional).
- 1 crushed garlic clove. (optional);
- Ajinomoto (optional).
You can season and make the stuffing as you like. Mix all the ingredients as you see fit, until the meat forms a binder. You can steam for 10 minutes, you can use a pasta colander. You can do other experiments like cooking it in boiling water, or giving it a light fry before or after cooking it.
You can make the sauce to soak the Gyoza before eating, with 100ml of soy sauce, 100ml of vinegar ten and a little chopped ginger, garlic and sesame oil.
The website Allrecipes Brasil teaches in detail in the video below how to make this delicious and simple recipe, using regular pastel dough. You can watch the video even following other recipes, so you can get a brief idea of how to cook and fold and close the pastries.
