Vegan Gyoza
Chef: Islay From: China Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
For the wrappers
2 cups wholewheat flour (plus more for rolling )
we used strong bread flour (or alternatively you can buy wonton/gyoza wrappers)1 cup boiling water
For the filling
Any combination of approx 700g crunchy veg, such as cabbage, carrots, spring onions, peppers, pak choi
1 tablespoon of low salt soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Half a tablespoon of fresh ginger, grated
One of our food ambassadors - Islay - taught parents how to make these gyoza from scratch, at our Cultural Cook Ups at the Woodfield Pavillion. Our participants had such fun making the dough, and it is extra healthy because it is made using wholemeal flour and not processed. However if you don't have the time (or inclination!) to make it you can buy wonton or gyoza wrappers in many Chinese and Asian food shops. You can use any filling ingredients you like for these, and add in different flavours such as chilli and fresh herbs (coriander, mint and thai basil go particularly well).
Serve with a salad and a dipping sauce, such as combination of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.
Method
Chop all your veg very finely and place in a bowl. Stir through the soy sauce, sesame oil, crushed garlic and grated ginger. Set aside.
To make the dough for the gyoza wrappers put the flour in a bowl and add the water gradually. - you can stir with chopsticks. Form into a dough - you might need to add a little more water or possibly use a little less, so just go slowly.
Knead for approx 3 minutes- sprinkling with flour so it is not too sticky. Rest the dough for between 30 minutes and 2 hours (depending on how much time you have).
Divide the dough into about 36 equal portions. You can start by halving it and then just keep going until you have 36 pieces.
With your hands, roll each piece into a ball - and then using a rolling pin roll each ball into a nicely formed thin disc - the key is thin.. but not too thin that they split.
Place a little vegetale filling on one side of the wrapper. Fold into a half moon and then pleat from one end to the other. Make sure they are tightly sealed so none of your lovely filling can escape!
Once you have made all your gyoza it is time to steam some of them in a lightly oiled steamer - make sure they are not touching each other, so you will have to do them in batches. Steam them for around 5 to 10 minutes. If you want to do the more traditional cooking method, Islay says to lightly pan fry them for a few minutes first in a little oil, before then steaming them as above.
If you don't want to cook all your gyoza straight away you can freeze them, and then take them out and cook from frozen - although you will need to increase the cooking time by about 10 minutes, or ideally defrost first.