I like spending time to prepare dinner. Although the idea of preparing supper in 30 minutes or only using five ingredients is nice and practical, it seems like rushing through the process just takes away the true enjoyment behind cooking. In this incredibly fast-paced environment, the kitchen is the only place where I can take my sweet ass time and not feel rushed.
Admittedly, I cannot spend a long time every night to make something to eat, especially if I have a hungry stomach waiting to be fed, including my own, but I try to spend at least one weekend night preparing a meal that’s meaningful, thoughtful, and handled with care.
Now that the weekend is finally here, I decided to make gyoza from scratch. I usually use the pre-made wrappers that I pick up at a local supermarket (available in the refrigerated Asian food section next to tofu), but I thought it would be therapeutic to knead and roll the dough with my hands this time, giving myself the much-needed relaxation after a week of travel (I like to decompress by submerging in mindless repetitive activities).
Whenever I have searched for a good gyoza recipe online in the past, I would receive results for the fillings but hardly for the dough, until I found this one from Kuidaore, one of my favorite reads in the blogosphere. I finally dusted off the recipe for the night’s gyoza endeavors and got to work, using Jocelyn’s beautifully written words as guidance (the below instruction has been rewritten to my version but definitely check out Kuidaore’s instruction for more intricate detail).
Gyoza Wrapper Dough, courtesy of Kuidaore
(makes 32 dumplings, approx. 4 servings)
250 grams all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 oz. boiling water
Mix the salt and flour in a bowl. Make a well and pour the hot water in the center. Mix quickly with a fork.
Move the dough onto a non-stick working surface (I put a Silpat on a cutting board to create a surface). Don’t worry if the little bits of dough are all over the place. Simply gather them together and make them into a ball.
Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes. The dough should not be sticky and should be pretty easy to handle. Once the dough is well kneaded and bouncy, cut it into four equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a thick rope and cut it into eight equal pieces. It’s easier to cut it in half first, and cut that in half again, and again, to make eight pieces. I put the little pieces in that bowl that I used to mix the flour and water to set them aside. You can put a wet paper towel on top to stop them from drying but you should be okay if you work fairly quickly.
Put a piece of dough on your palm and roll it to make a small ball. Put the ball down on the non-stick surface and roll the dough into a thin piece using a rolling pin. I used a small Tabasco bottle to roll the dough since the rolling pin was just too big and heavy. I like my dumplings big with lots of filling, so I rolled each dough pretty thin.
Take a teaspoon-full of the filling (I made mine with pork, beef, napa cabbage, carrots, green onions, grated garlic and ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper) and place it in the middle of the dough. Close the top by creating several creases, and pinch the opening shut.
Line up the completed dumplings on a non-stick surface. If you want to save some for later, put the dumplings in the plastic bag and freeze immediately (don’t cook before freezing). They should last for about a month in the freezer.
If you want to boil the gyoza (this method is called “Sui Gyoza,” which translates to “water dumpling”), boil a pot-full of water and drop in the dumplings. Once they float to the top, they are ready to eat. If you like pan-fried version, check this post for instruction.
As for the taste, the bouncy texture of the homemade dough is quite delicious and satisfying. I cannot say, however, that I prefer this one over the thinner cousin from a grocery store because they are very different. These are definitely more dim sum-like than the ones I’m used to eating at home or at a ramen joint. What I know for sure if that these little dumplings are a meal in its own and after a several of them, you’ll be asking, “a bowl of rice who?”
I love the weekend. 🙂
Lavender and OliVE 
looks so yummy!
Hi Jessica! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me a comment! My apologies that it took me almost six months to thank you and respond! As matter of fact, I just realized today that you had left me a comment!
Mmm, the dumplings were so good, especially when it’s homemade!
Hirono
Looks good, I usually just use wonton wrappers but I will definitely be giving this a try
Thanks, Eric! The homemade kind is a cross between the store-bought dough and the dough for those fluffy buns. I think it tastes better homemade, although it is a bit labor intensive! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!
Hirono
Thanks so much for this recipe. Just made up a batch of gyoza, and they were AMAZING. Love the simplicity of this recipe, I threw mine on the mixer for 10 minutes instead of kneading by hand, it all turned out lovely. Thanks!
Hi Stella! Thank you for the comment. I am going to have to try using the mixer — great idea. I’m glad the gyoza came out amazing! I love gyoza too and I can eat them every day! 🙂
Thank you so much for this post. I will give them a try today and let you know how it turned out, i love gyoza!!
my gyoza came out great!! My husband said they taste better than restaurant gyoza! thanks so much for posting this!! 🙂
Hi Jackie! I am so glad that gyoza turned out great! And hooray that your husband liked them too! Thank you so much for visiting the blog and leaving me such a wonderful comment! I went to your blog — LOVED it! It’s so great that you used to live in Japan. Your post about curry made me want to make the katsu curry for dinner!
Hirono
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Thank u so much for your recipe! Ive used it like 4 times… I added a little bit more water… Dunno why naybe weather or the flour but it was kind of dry and too difficult to handle. Anyway they turned Out great! You’re right they are so different from the premade ones! I think i’ll stick to theese 🙂 thank you again! ❤
Hi Viole! Thanks for the lovely comment and trying out the recipe. I’m so glad to hear that you’ve incorporated the recipe into your own repertoire! It’s definitely a great arsenal, especially if you have a surprise guest and want to make gyoza but don’t have the prepared wrapper! Great idea about adding more water. I think it’s the weather too … I sometime need to add a little more to make the dough workable as well. Again, thanks for visiting! And YAY to homemade dumplings! 🙂
Hi!
After you knead the dough you don’t need to rest it before rolling and forming the wrappers?
Thanks,
Valeria
Hi Valeria!
I don’t let the dough sit before rolling and it comes out just fine. If you do decide to let it sit for a little, make sure to put a damp towel over the dough since it gets dry very quickly.
Happy gyoza making!
Hirono
I will try it soon, I did it a few days ago but I didn’t roll gyoza by hand but using the italian machine for rolling egg pasta and I guess the wrappers were too thin, so I’ll try rolling them by hand next time!
ありがとうございます！
Valeria
Thanks for the easy recipe! They turn out great! The kids love the dumplings (I couldn’t keep up with them, they ate them as they came out of the steamers)!
Thank you so much for posting this! I always wanted to make gyoza, but in Serbia we don’t have warppers, so I’m so happy that I found this. I’m eating them as I’m writing this and they turned out great. I made it for my family, though they are visiting some relatives for 5 days, so I put them in the freezer so I can cook it for them when they come back. They probably aren’t like the ones in Japan, but I plan to visit and study in Japan anyways, so I’ll eat the original gyoza eventually O:)
I hope mom and dad will like them as I do, and thank you for posting ^_^
Sundays are for our bonding time with my 3 kids. I have made gyoza dumplings as our snack. My youngest daughter like them fried, but my only son would prefer boiled with hot dipping sauce. So, I have to cook 2 kinds. My eldest daughter and I would just take what is still plenty and available. We enjoy them very much
HiNeny,
It’s so lovely that you have the bonding time with your children over good food! My fondest childhood memories all involve sharing good food with family — those times are so precious for the young ones! I love that your kids like gyoza!
What kind of dipping sauce do you use?
Thanks for your comment!
Hirono