gyoza

I enjoy a variety of cuisines, especially those of Asia. Cooking Thai or Cantonese or Indian can be a lot of fun as well, with their regionally unique combinations of ingredients and flavors.

Since we had ground pork in, I decided tonight to make gyoza, otherwise known as Chinese dumplings or pot-stickers. Here's the recipe:

Filling
1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely shredded Chinese cabbage/napa
1-2 green onions in thin slices
1 clove crushed garlic
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon soy sauce
pinch of salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Unless you're feeling adventuresome, buy frozen pre-made gyoza wrappers. Thaw. Place a teaspoon or so of filling in the center of each wrapper, wet edges, and then fold over, pressing the one edge to the other in a series of 5-6 pleats in the upper half of wrapper. It should make about 30 gyoza.

Fry the gyoza on fairly high heat, seam side up, in a pan slicked with hot oil until the bottoms brown. Add enough water to the pan to reach partway up the gyoza and steam until the meat is cooked through and the wrappers are tender.

Serve with dipping sauce made with soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mirin can also be added to the dipping sauce for a bit of sweetness and red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick.

I served the gyoza with fresh fruit (mangoes, kiwi fruit, banana, melon) and "kyuri no sunome," a Japanese cucumber salad.