Gyoza: A Tale of Friendship and Food

What would be a more appropriate way to start off my food blog than with a tribute to the person that really got me hooked on doing ...let's use the phrase "different"... food? A long time ago, in a galaxy, well, here, actually, I went to school with the kid that runs The Electric Spork blog. She was a culinary student, and I liked to eat. As you can imagine, we got along well. She'd cook all kinds of things I'd not even heard of before, and I'd try anything that I wasn't allergic to and provide feedback. Eventually, we landed on a favorite: gyoza. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, think "Asian-inspired meat nuggets of awesomeness." Or you could just totally look at this picture:

Not bad, eh? Yeah, they're good. Pretty much any time that we weren't passed out from having our brains forcefully removed by exams, and when we actually had meat money, we'd whip these bad boys up. Turns out they were a bit of a crowd pleaser, too. Being able to cook well on a college campus makes you a lot of friends very quickly.

So, while I admit to adding a number of tweaks of my own, I credit this one to Aimee.

Here's what you'll need:

Equipment:

• Big frying pan with a lid
• Heat-resistant tongs
• Cooling Rack
• Towel
• Mixing Bowl
• Measuring cup with a pour spout

Gyoza:

• 1 lb ground meat
  • I usually use a nice lean Boston burger, because the pork fat from the pig meat blended in with the beef keeps the meat from drying out.
• 3 Stalks green onions, minced
  Don't cut into the part where it starts to turn lighter... using that part will make the food taste like dirt.
• 3 leaves of napa/Chinese cabbage, minus the bigger veins, minced
  I know, I know, the first time I saw this, I was like "What you doin' with that leafy thing near my meat?" Personally, I think fresh raw Napa cabbage leaves have the consistency of new baby diaper. But, somehow they work for this.
• 2 tsp garlic powder
  • NOT garlic salt! Huge difference
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pkg eggroll wrappers, quartered into squares
• 3 oz water

Sauce:

• 2oz balsamic vinegar
• 2oz soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp roasted sesame seed oil
• 1 stalk green onion, minced
• 2 tsp brown sugar
  • It works in barbecue, it'll work here too.

Break out the mixing bowl and toss in the meat, veggies, garlic powder, and salt. Make sure they all get mixed together evenly. If not, well, some things are their own punishment, as hitting a solid bite of onion or garlic will be about enough to turn your face inside out. After everybody's mingling properly, you get to practice your origami skills. Bonus points to whoever makes these in crane shapes.

The birth of an army

Start off with a small ball of the meat mix, about the size of the edible portion of a walnut. Wet down all the edges of the wrapper square with just enough water to make them damp. Bring up all the corners at once to make a point, and seal the adjacent edges together. By seal I mean squish them together tightly, with no gaps. These are going to be fried... any opening is going to turn it from a meat ball to a grease ball. You'll know if you've used too much meat... it'll be about like when you accidentally get ahold of your younger sibling's jeans. Just with less chances of destroyed clothing. Done right, you'll get something that looks about like this:

It kind of looks like a duck. Sort of.
If you squint a lot.

Got it? Good. Now repeat. A lot. I mean a lot a lot. You'll swear you're working with Energizer bunny meat, because that pound of beef is going to go forever. Maybe I should have mentioned rallying up some assistance as well.

When your gyoza army is ready, coat the bottom of the frying pan with a thin layer of oil, and make sure you know where both the lid and the fire extinguisher are. This is one of those things that either goes really, really well, or really, really bad, and there won't be much middle ground. When the oil is hot, load the gyoza into the pan, putting no more than will fit easily, flat side down as best as possible. Be careful, though... the oil will start frying as soon as the gyoza hit the pan, and it's been known to be a bit of a beast. Slap the lid on and let them fry until golden brown on the bottom, (for about 3 minutes, but times will vary).

This lid actually works well, as it is a multi-size lid, but still has a viewing
window so I can keep an eye on things.

When they've reached a nice crispy goldness on the bottom, things start to get a little crazy. You're now going to steam them. In the oil. Yep. I said it. carefully sneak open the lid just barely enough to pour in the water, and immediately reseal the pan. And keep your face back while you're doing this. You hear that party going on in there? Be thankful for that lid. Be very thankful for that lid. Mostly because that lid keeps the explosions from happening on your face.

Now for the longer part. You want to actually get the meat inside cooked all the way (nobody likes that whole thing about undercooked meat and food poisoning, right?), which, for me at least, took about 8-10 minutes. While you're waiting, you can mix up the sauce. It's pretty much just mix everything together well. Meanwhile, the gyoza have bloated up and become semi-transparent. The air bubble in them will flatten out, and the transparency is nice because it lets you have a rough idea of how cooked the meat is. Feel free to cut one in half for confirmation.

A rare photo of the revealed battleground

Once the meat is fully cooked, you'll want to take the gyoza out with tongs and let them drain. My favorite method for this is a cookie cooling rack put over a towel. Whatever you do, don't set these on a paper towel. There's something about the steamed eggroll wrapper that binds to the paper towels. I mean, I love fiber as much as the next person, but, um, how about not trees?

Looking good!

Let them cool a bit, and you may still have to shake some oil off, especially if any of them suffered a puncture wound while steaming. Other than that, just keep going as needed, being careful not to catch the oil on fire (replace as needed). I've been known to knock down a whole round of these delicious little dumplings while the next round cooks, so don't be surprised if these don't make it from the kitchen to the dining table.