Asian

Hot Thai Kitchen Gyoza

https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/pork-dumplings/print/11058/

Meat Fill Ingredients

• 1 tsp white peppercorns
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped ginger (~1-inch piece)
• 250g napa cabbage (~3.5 cups chopped)
• ½ tsp table salt
• 1lb (450g) ground pork (preferably not lean)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 ½ tsp dashi powder (optional; if not using add 1 tsp more soy sauce)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch
• ½ cup chopped garlic chives or 3 finely chopped green onions
• 1 package dumpling wrappers (40-50 pieces)

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• Optional: A pinch of sugar (Thai people like to add this to lessen the sharpness of the vinegar)
• Optional: A little drizzle of rayu (Japanese chili garlic oil, highly recommend!) or another chili oil of your choice

Instructions

1. Separate the white and green part of napa cabbage leaves. Finely dice the white "stems" and finely chop the leaves, keeping them separate.
2. In a mortar and pestle pound peppercorns until fine. Add garlic and ginger and pound into a fine paste.
3. In a wok or a large skillet over medium heat add a tablespoon of oil and the garlic paste. Saute until aromatic; about 2 mins.
4. Add napa cabbage STEMS ONLY and turn the heat up to medium high. Add ¼ tsp of the salt and cook until soft and translucent; about 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the cabbage leaves and cook for another 2-3 minutes until wilted and there’s no pooling liquid. Remove from heat and spread it all out on a plate to cool quickly.
6. While the cabbage cools, combine pork, the remaining 1/4 tsp salt, soy sauce, dashi powder, sesame oil, tapioca starch, and sugar, and knead with your hands (I'd wear a latex glove) for at least 5 mins. After kneading it should look smooth and pasty.
7. Add the cooled cabbage and garlic chives and mix gently using a "fold and squish" action just until the vegetables are evenly distributed.
8. Cook a little bit of filling in the microwave to taste so you can adjust the seasoning if needed. (If you follow the measurements exactly, you won't need to adjust, but it's good habit to ALWAYS taste anything that can't be fixed after cooking, because you might have forgotten something!)
9. Wrap the dumplings: Using a dessert spoon, scoop up a spoonful of filling (about 1 ½ Tbsp) per piece. Watch the video for how to wrap.
10. If you're not cooking them right away, freeze them immediately. Do not wrap and let them sit unfrozen for any longer than a couple of hours. (See FAQ above for more details and how to properly freeze dumplings.)
11. Mix together the dipping sauce before you start cooking so it'll be ready.

Cooking

In a nonstick skillet (or a well-seasoned cast-iron pa), add a little oil to thinly but thoroughly coat the bottom. Turn the heat on to medium high, and without waiting for the pan to get hot, go ahead and arrange the dumplings on the pan in a circular pattern. You

Gyoza Wrappers

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (or use 1 cup/120 g bread flour + 1 cup/120 g cake flour for every 2 cups; see the instructions below)
• ½ tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
• ½ cup water (just-boiled hot water; different brands of flour absorb water differently, so use more hot water as needed; I used about 120-150 ml)
• potato starch or cornstarch (for rolling and dusting; you may substitute flour; if you plan to freeze the wrappers, please use potato starch or cornstarch as the wrappers tend to stick to each other if you use flour)

Instructions

1. You must accurately measure the flour. Use a kitchen scale if you have one (I highly recommend getting one like this). If you use a measuring cup, please try this method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off. Put the measured flour into a medium bowl. You should have close to the standard 4.25 oz (120 g) of flour per US cup.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
3. Add the salt to the just-boiled hot water and stir until completely dissolved.
4. Add the hot water to the flour little by little, stirring with a rubber spatula. Mix until the flour and water are combined completely. If the flour is still not incorporated, add more hot water, ½ Tbsp at a time, until you can form the mixture into a ball. You will eventually need to use your hands to do this.
5. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, the texture of the dough will be much smoother. Use a dough scraper to cut the ball of dough in half (doesn't have to be an equal size).
7. Shape each half into a long log about 1½ inches (3.8 cm) in diameter (it doesn't have to be perfect, especially if you use a cookie cutter later). Wrap each log with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 30 minutes.

Shaping

1. Unwrap the dough. Sprinkle a little potato starch on the work surface and cut each log crosswise into ¾ inch (2 cm) wide pieces. Since we’ll be using a cookie cutter, don’t worry if each piece of dough is a slightly different size.
2. It's super important to cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel at all times to prevent it from drying.
3. Roll each piece of dough into a ball shape.
4. Press the ball onto the work surface.
5. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough, but DO NOT flatten the TOP and BOTTOM edges. This is the trick to making a nice round shape.
6. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat rolling the dough. Try to roll out the dough into a thin circle. If the dough is hard to roll out or shrinks back, let it rest a bit to relax the gluten and try again.