Gyoza Dumplings and Miso Soup

Japanese Gyoza Dumplings Recipe




Gyoza Dumpling Ingredients:

• 1 small-sized napa cabbage
  
• 1 pound ground turkey (or ground chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, etc..)
  
• 1 package wonton wrappers
  
• 4 green onions
  
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  
• salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp each
  

Dipping sauce:

• mix 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar with 1/4 cup soy sauce
  

Instructions:


1. Finely mince the cabbage, garlic, and ginger, and mix together in bowl. Mix together with salt and pepper.


2. Fill and fold the wonton wrappers with the filling.


3. Add 1 teapsoon oil to a frying pan and fry the dumplings for 2 minutes on medium high.


Add 1/2 cup water to pan, cover with a lid and cook for about 4 more minutes on high heat. Remove from pan and enjoy!


Miso Soup (serves 3-4)​

• 3 cups water or homemade dashi (dashi is made by soaking a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms in water, and using that water for the soup)
  
• 3 Tbsp. miso (I use mild miso, called “awase” or white miso)
  
• 6 oz regular or silken tofu
  
• 2 tsp. dried ready-to-use wakame (wakame is seaweed; this is optional)
  
• 1 green onion/scallion (sliced finely)
  
• ½ pack of enoki mushrooms (optional; chop off stems and wash)
  
• 1 piece fried tofu skin (called “aburrage”), sliced into ½ inch strips
  

For quick dashi (instead of homemade dashi)

• 3 cups water
  
• 1 dashi packet or 1¼ tsp. dashi powder
  ***If you don't have homemade dashi or quick dashi ingredients, just use water, it'll still taste good! :). Dashi is umami-infused water! Creates a deeper flavor for the soup, but I would say not entirely necessary.
  

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan, add 3 cups or more of water/homemade dashi. You can add more water if it is for a bigger party, and add miso to taste.
   
   
   
   
2. Bring water or dashi to a boil over medium high heat. After it reaches boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer.
   
   
   
   
3. Finely slice the green onion and put the dried wakame (optional) and green onion in each bowl.
   
   
   
   
4. Put 1 Tbsp. of miso in a ladle (or strainer) and blend it with water/dashi until it is thoroughly mixed. Continue this process until miso is all used. Usually each cup of dashi, you will need about 1 Tbsp. of miso. If you add tofu in your miso soup, tofu dilutes the soup a little bit so you might want to add ½ Tbsp. more miso.
   
   
   
   
5. Cut tofu into ½ cm cubes and add to the soup. Stir gently without breaking the tofu. Add in the enoki mushrooms and fried tofu skin (both optional) and cook for 4 minutes on a light simmer, until mushrooms are translucent and cooked.
   
   
   
   
6. Return the miso soup to a slight simmer until heated through and pour into the bowls. Be careful not to boil the miso soup because miso will lose flavor.
   
   *If you don't have dashi packet or powder, see how to make homemade dashi stock.
   
   *Each brand or kind of miso has different level of saltiness; therefore, add miso 1 Tbsp. at a time and taste the soup before you add more miso.