Gyoza - June Daring Cooks' Challenge

I recently joined The Daring Kitchen, as a Daring Cook, and this is my first Challenge. The Daring Cooks' June Challenge is hosted by Jen, of Use Real Butter.

For the Challenge, Jen chose Chinese dumplings/potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese). This was her introduction: "It's a basic concept: a filling inside a dough wrapper, sealed, and cooked. This delicious theme runs through many cultures and is among the more popular bites at Chinese restaurants - especially dim sum. The recipe I provide is based on my family recipe. There is a lot of wiggle room and I encourage you to explore. If you've made them before - great! Now try something different!"

Since this was my first experience making potstickers/gyoza (other than my clandestine test round a few weeks ago for Concert in the Park), I decided to stick with Jen's family recipe for Shrimp Potstickers, but will definitely explore with different fillings in the future.

I was very pleased with my Shrimp Gyoza. For the dipping sauce, I made Martin Yan's spicy dipping sauce.

A few featured ingredients...fresh shrimp

green onions...

Ground pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, green onion, ginger, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper. All of these ingredients are combined in a bowl and then covered and refrigerated until ready to use.
Very good, that wasn't so tough. Let's celebrate with a little saké break...John and I like Nigori saké.

Now for the challenging part, homemade skins/wrappers. I used the food processor method to prepare the dough. I also doubled the dough recipe, as suggested, for the amount of filling. I separated the dough into two balls, covered, and let rest.

Each ball is separated into four pieces, each piece is rolled out into a log, and each log is cut into smaller pieces.

Each piece is flattened into a disk and thinly rolled out into a circle, approximately 4" in diameter.

A small amount of filling is placed in the center of the circle.



Forming the gyoza takes a little practice, but you will catch on quickly. However, if you start to stress and/or exhibit the slightest sign of irritability, simply pour yourself another glass of saké.

And everything will turn out just fine, I promise!

Drizzle some oil into the pan, let it heat up, and add the gyoza. Let them brown a few minutes.

Then cover and steam until cooked.

After the water has evaporated, uncover the pan and lovingly admire your beautifully browned, steamed gyoza .

Pour another glass of saké...you deserve it, and enjoy your exquisite dumplings with spicy dipping sauce!

Thank you, Jen! That was a fun Challenge. We truly love Use Real Butter and your beautiful photography. Dooley sends Newfy greetings to Kaweah.