My Mom's Recipes

Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers)

This is one of the family's favorite dishes. Usually Mom makes enough for 4-7 people, and rarely are there leftovers. Gyoza can be served as a side dish, or as a main dish as it is presented here.

Gyoza is typically made with pork, but this version uses beef. You can try to substitute anything you like if you don't care for beef (like chicken, fish, and/or shrimp).

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 ginger root
  • 1/4 head of cabbage (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/2 cup of green onions
  • 1/2 cup of nira (chives)

  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp sake
  • 1 Tbsp mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp teriyaki sauce
  • 1 pack of gyoza/potsticker wrappers
  • 1/4 cup of flour
  • 1/4 cup of water

Add the pepper, sake, mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce to the beef, and mix together.

Mince the green onions, nira, and cabbage. Grind the ginger and garlic. Put everything into the beef and knead the mixture with your hands.

Mix the flour and water in a small bowl. This will be the "glue." Don't make the mix too thin. Use this mixture to moisten the outer edge of each wrapper.

Add a spoonful of the beef mixture to the wrapper. Try not to use too much, or you may have trouble closing the wrapper, or the wrapper may break.

Fold the wrapper in half. Put two or three small folds on the top edge, and press the edges closed. Put the gyoza aside, for instance on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Continue making the rest of the gyoza until you run out of the beef mixture, or until you made the number that you want.

Oil and heat up a frying pan. My mom uses peanut oil for the flavor, but use any type of oil that suits you. Cook the gyoza over medium heat (usually about 5 minutes on each side) until lightly browned. Add water to the frying pan, enough to cover the bottom, and cover the pan. Steam cook for about 3 minutes.

My mom likes to serve the gyoza with rice and chopped cabbage (using another 1/4 of the original head of cabbage). You can put dressing on the cabbage and eat it as a salad.

Dipping sauce:

  • soy sauce
  • rice vinegar
  • hot sesame oil

Use about 1/2 soy sauce, 1/2 vinegar, plus a few drops of sesame oil (more or less depending on your taste).

Now the dish is complete!

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