Pork gyoza

I’ve been wanting to make these gyozas for a while. They are little tasty packages. Juicy, full of flavour and moreish! Seeing as I have a bit of time with being off work and I picked up some half price pork mince, I thought I’d go for it today.

I use the Chicken gyoza recipe from the Wagamama Cookbook. Pork has been substituted for chicken in the recipe, as I have tried both and find that the pork has more flavour. If you don’t have any chives, I’ve also found that spring onions work just as well.

Ingredients:

110g (4oz) Chinese leaf

150g (5oz) white cabbage

100g (3 1/2oz) canned water chestnuts, drained

250g (9oz) pork, minced

25g (1oz) chives, finely chopped

25g (1oz) cornflour

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tblsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 packet of gyoza skins

vegetable oil, for frying

Method:

1. Put the Chinese leaf, cabbage and water chestnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not puréed.

Using a clean tea towel, squeeze the mixture gently but firmly to remove the excess moisture, then tip into a bowl

and add the minced pork, chives, cornflour, sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and white pepper.

2. Put a teaspoonful of the mixture in the centre of each gyoza skin.

Moisten one of the edges with a little water, then fold over to create a half-moon shape.

Press down to form a neat crescent.

3. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes,

or until hot and almost smoking and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Put 4-6 of the dumplings in the pan and sauté gently for 2 minutes over a low heat until just starting to brown.

Don’t be tempted to overcrowd the pan or they will stew.

4. Add 3 tablespoons of water and cover immediately with a lid or with aluminium foil.

Heat for 1 minute then remove off heat and set aside for 2 minutes, by which time the gyozas will be heated through.

Repeat for remaining gyozas.

The gyozas taste delicious on their own but you can also make the accompanying Wagamama gyoza dipping sauce. This adds another layer of flavour to the gyozas. I made up half the recipe, as wouldn’t be able to use up all the sauce in the space of a few weeks.

Makes about 350ml (12fl oz)

Ingredients:

1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

1 large chilli, trimmed and finely chopped

Salt

25g (1oz) sugar

100ml (3 1/2fl oz) malt vinegar

250ml (9fl oz) light soy sauce

1 tblsp sesame oil

Method:

1. Mash the garlic and chilli together with a little salt with the side of your knife to form a paste.

2. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a small pan over a low heat.

3. Combine everything and store in a sealed container.

It will keep for several weeks in the fridge.