Gyoza (Cases)

Image courtesy of closetcooking.com

Gyoza are a wonderful side dish and are technically a type of dumpling. They can be pan fried or steamed and can have almost any filling. Usually served as a type of Japanese fast food, I first came across gyoza in the wagamama cookbook(which i'm currently working my way through, and continues to fascinate me). Although a favourite in Japan, gyoza are much like alot of Japanese fast food - which they have inherited from the Chinese styles of cooking. Regardless of their origin, they are a wonderful dish that are acceptable in many settings, including parties, functions and as an informal food for social occasions.

The focus in those recipes is to use prebought gyoza cases - this can be a major time saving factor, however if my research is anything to go by, gyoza are much better when home made. the comparison is made very much to manufactured vs. home made pasta - having a smooth and less papery texture.

This recipe is in volumed proportions (cups) so you can make as much or as little gyoza as you like. Bear in mind that using a standard "cup" measurement though this recipe will make about 40 gyoza cases. They can be chilled or frozen if stored correctly for later use, so consider it an investment to your larder.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of all purpose flour (strong bread flour will give a more doughy gyoza)
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/4 teaspoon salt

The doing bit:

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt and stir with chopsticks until well mixed. Add the water and stir together the dough until all the flour is mixed and forms a dough. When a uniform dough cover the mix with a damp cloth and leave to rest for about 45 mins to an hour.

Pull out dough and knead until a smooth consistency, then roll into a sausage / cylinder shape in cling film. At this point I usually use a greased sterile plastic pipe to form it and then pull out the dough.

using a sharp knife cut into 40 slices, then roll out each slice to a desired thickness, and use a 3 in pastry cutter to form the gyoza shape. Repeat as necessary.

Wrap the gyoza cases in cling film and store or freeze.

Use as necessary.