These days, our idea of a “date night” rarely involves restaurant reservations. First, we never think ahead to actually make reservations, and then (way too often) we find ourselves waiting 2 hours on a Friday night for a meal. Some people might be ok with that, but this girl gets hungry.
Gyoza (Japanese dumplings) are one of our favorite things to make together at home. They’re not difficult but they take a little time – the assembly is definitely quicker if you have 4 hands and a bottle of sake on the side.
We often eat these as a light meal on their own. Other times, I’ll serve them with soba noodles or a version of this sesame kale salad (both could be made ahead). If you wanted to get fancy, this citrus cod would be a nice main course.
Dip in soy sauce, or my personal preference: ponzu. Pick it up at the store or make your own.
Kanpai!
shiitake & napa cabbage gyoza
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 oz. (about 1.5 cups) shiitake mushrooms, de-stemmed and chopped into small pieces
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 cup napa cabbage, very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup scallions
- ¼ cup firm tofu, crumbled
- ¼ cup edamame, chopped
- 1 heaping teaspoon white miso paste
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon chile garlic sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- optional - 1 teaspoon corn starch for cohesion
- 15-20 round dumpling wrappers
- small bowl filled with water, for assembly
- ponzu or soy sauce for dipping
- In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and soy sauce and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the cabbage. Cook for another few minutes, just until the cabbage wilts down. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl.
- Add scallions, crumbled tofu, edamame, miso paste, rice vinegar, chile garlic sauce and sesame oil and mix well. (If it's too crumbly add 1 teaspoon of corn starch. You want it to stick together well enough to spoon into the wrappers).
- Spoon up to 1 tablespoon of filling into each dumpling wrapper. Use your fingers to dab a bit of water around the edges of each wrapper. Fold the wrappers in half, over the filling, and pinch the edges shut.
- Prepare your bamboo steamer by placing parchment paper on the bottom to prevent the dumplings from sticking. Place dumplings in the steamer with enough space between them so that they are not touching.
- Steam dumplings in bamboo steamer over simmering water for 10-12 minutes. You can also steam them in a large skillet with ¼-1/2 inch water at the bottom.
- Serve with soy sauce or ponzu for dipping.
Frozen edamame is fine, thaw it before you start.
I recommend this brand of wrappers, you’ll have to find them at an asian grocery store (they’re not stores like whole foods). They come frozen, let them fully thaw in the fridge before using them. These Nasoya wrappers will also work, they’re just a bit thicker and more difficult to work with. As far as I know, vegan wrappers do not exist (these are non-dairy but they contain eggs).
These look delicious! Stunning photos!
xx gemma @ gemmachew.com
I unfortunately don’t have a bamboo steamer, but have everything else to make these! Any other way to steam or cook these?
Hi Carly, you can cook them in a skillet with a bit of oil, and the dumplings (it’ll pan sear them a bit which is delicious)… then add a bit of water and cover until they steam through.
Great, thanks!!!!!!
Vegan wrappers TOTALLY exist – if you make your own! It’s a lot easier than you think as well, just flour and hot water! When I make gyoza I always make my own wrappers (mostly because I can’t find any pre-made ones locally!). I make an epic batch of dumplings then freeze portions so I can just whip them out of the freezer and cook them!
Wrappers: http://mrs-jones-to-be.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/i-cooked-gyoza-japanese-dumplings.html
thanks for the recipe! I haven’t been brave enough to try my own 🙂
These dumplings look so good. Date night is similar here! P.S. I love your blog and your photography is impeccable.
Gyoza are so good, and these look delicious! 🙂
these look absolutely fantastic!
and your photos are inspiring, as always 🙂
Your shiitake & napa cabbage gyoza look delicious! I’m always on the lookout for vegetarian gyoza.
Love your compositions!
Thank you for all that you do!
Pinned,
K-
they’re rarely at restaurants, that’s for sure 🙂
And I’m sure these are way better than any you could get out anyways! I like the citrus cod pairing idea too.
thanks! it’s a nice light combo…
These look fantastic – love gyoza!
Looks delicious!!
Are the wrappers gluten-free? Gyoza is one of my favourites.
http://lifeandcity.tumblr.com
they’re not
These are so pretty and they look amazing!
These look amazing, I have a bamboo steamer and have never used it, now I have a great reason!
Ahh, gyoza are my favorite!! They’re well worth the work involved. Yours look beautiful – I like your use of edamame and tofu in yours! Perhaps you would like my recipe as well, http://simplepairings.com/2014/01/17/potstickers-with-scallion-dipping-sauce/. Always good to find another potsticker lover out there 🙂
Vegan gyoza wrappers do exist! We have them at our Asian grocery in our small Midwest town. You can make your own too without eggs that are delicious but time-consuming.
great to know! do you know what the brand is called?
Hong Kong noodle company. I think some of their wrappers have egg, but the potsticker ones are vegan (daughter with an egg allergy, and they are fine).
awesome, thanks so much for sharing!
Ive never thought of making my own potstickers but now Im intrigued! I think ill check out the asian market this weekend for the ingredients. Yum!
it’s actually pretty easy!
They look amazingly delicious!:-)
Love love love gyoza, especially with cabbage and shiitake. I make them so often that my bamboo steamer is starting to take a beating.
mine is too 🙂
i makgyoza a lot at home and use the same wrapper you recommended. love that bamboo steamer.
Oh you just made me hungry! I absolutely love dumplings and usually don’t make them as I can’t be bothered with the whole process. But with the help of someone else, that’s another story. I actually think I’ll plan a dumpling party with some of my friends very soon. Just need to shop for some sake and asian beer 😉
the more hands the better 🙂 A dumpling party would be so fun…