Crispy vegetarian gyoza

In my life I have made many many gyoza, but these vegetarian gyoza are a more recent addition. Everybody loves gyoza, including me and my kids. A Japanese friend of mine taught me how to make them, including the folding, which looked far more complicated than it actually is. She also showed me that they’re a really nice thing to make together with kids. Put everything on the table, give everyone a little pile of wrappers and start folding. They won’t all look perfect, but that’s part of the charm.

We always used to make them with meat, but since more and more people are going through life without meat, I wanted to try a vegetarian gyoza version. Mushrooms seemed like the obvious starting point because they give you that savory, slightly meaty thing you want in a gyoza. Add cabbage, carrot, spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy and sesame oil and, honestly, I don’t really miss the meat.

They take a little time to fold, especially when you’re making a big batch, but I actually quite like that part. And once you have a freezer full of homemade gyoza, you’ll be very happy you did it.

I think these turned out pretty damn good.

Still wonder, what actually is gyoza? Read something more about that here.

Nourishment

Fiber: low-medium
Veggie level: medium
Keeps you full: pretty good for a snack
Energy: light & satisfying
Mood: crispy & playful & social

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Ingredients

• 50 Gyoza skins

• 8-10 mushrooms, about 200 g, very finely chopped

• 1-2 medium carrots, about 100 g, finely grated or chopped

• 2 spring onions, finely sliced

• 150 g Chinese cabbage, very finely shredded

• Marinade / seasoning

• 3 tbsp soy sauce

• 1½ tbsp sesame oil

• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced

• 2–3 cm fresh ginger, finely grated

• 2 tbsp Sake

• Salt & Pepper

• Optional

• 125 g firm tofu

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Directions

• Finely chop the mushrooms and Chinese cabbage, grate/chop the carrots and slice the spring onions. Keep everything quite small, so the gyoza are easy to fill and fold. Put everything in a big mixing bowl
• optional: If you use tofu, press the tofu well to remove as much moisture as possible, then crumble it very finely with your hands. Mix it through the chopped vegetables together with the cornstarch. The tofu helps bring the filling together and gives it a slightly more substantial texture.
• Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and sake and the spring onions. Add some salt and pepper and mix all together
• Start folding the gyoza. Take a skin and put about half a tablespoon of filling in. Wet the edge lightly with water, fold it over and pinch or pleat the edges closed. Don’t overfill them.
• Heat up some neutral oil in a non-stick frying pan. Let them fry, flat area down, for a minute or 2 to 3, until bottom is crispy.
• Add a small cup of water and immediately cover with a lid to let them steam. Steam for about 4 minutes or once water is evaporated.
• Remove the lid and let rest of water evaporate and let bottom fry just bit longer until nicely golden and crispy
• Serve on a plate with soy sauce