Gluten-free gyoza

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Did you know that gyoza – those moreish dumplings you get from Japanese restaurants – are surprisingly simple to make? Victoria shares her easy recipe for gluten-free gyoza with the choice of two delicious fillings.

First published in 2015

A steaming plate of these moreish dumplings, dunked in a simple soy and mirin sauce, is hard to beat. When ordering gyoza in a restaurant, as with most tiny parcels of food, it’s quite easy to get swept up with the idea that you’ve barely eaten anything. They’re only little after all. You continue popping one more, after one more, tiny morsel into your mouth until, suddenly, out of the blue, you’re groaning under the weight of pork and cabbage. That’s the thing about gyoza: they’re just so irresistible, once you start, you can’t stop eating them.

They seem like the kind of thing that would be nigh on impossible to achieve at home, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret… They’re incredibly easy and cheap as chips to make!

Feed your friends a plate of these and they will think you’re a culinary wizard. In fact, I can’t think of another impressive dinner party dish that makes so much food for so very little money. All in all, it’s a win-win.

If your body is lucky enough not to be thrown off balance by a bit of wheat in your dumplings, you can buy gyoza wrappers at most Asian supermarkets, or online. If, on the other hand, your constitution is a little more sensitive, don’t fret, you needn’t feel left out. I have created a wheat-free gyoza wrapper that doesn’t tear open on filling and doesn’t split or turn to mush on cooking. My gluten-free boyfriend was so delighted when I first made them that he did a little jig while rummaging in the cutlery drawer for the chopsticks.

Gyoza are most traditionally stuffed with pork and cabbage, but as I served these as a precursor to ginger pork belly, I decided to make half with chicken and sesame and the other half with prawn and chilli. I also treated myself to gyoza press, a fun little gadget for under a fiver that made the business of construction a lot quicker and simpler.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Chicken and sesame filling

Prawn chilli filling

Gluten-free gyoza wrappers

  • 60g of rice flour
  • 120g of glutinous rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 125ml of boiling water
  • 1 tbsp of sunflower oil

Method

1
Begin by making the filling of your choice. Place the ingredients in a bowl, mix until fully combined and store in the fridge until ready to assemble
2
To make the gyoza wrappers, mix together the 2 flours, salt and xanthan gum in a large bowl. Add the water and oil and mix vigorously until the mixture comes together
3
Cover in cling film, leave to cool to handling temperature then knead until a ball of dough forms. If it is too sticky, add more rice flour
4
Break the dough into pieces about the size of a hazelnut and roll into rounds about 3 inches in diameter
5
Place a wrapper in a gyoza press and put 1 tsp. of filling in the centre – don’t be tempted to put in more as it will squidge out the sides
6
If the dough is too dry to stick, lightly wet the edges of the wrapper with water before clamping shut. Repeat until you have used up all the dough or filling
7
If you don’t have a gyoza press, place the the filling in the centre and brush the wrapper edges with water. Fold one side of the wrapper over and seal, being careful to remove any air pockets
8
Heat about 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a wide bottomed, shallow pan and fry the gyoza for a few minutes or until browned. Pour in a good slug of water from a recently boiled kettle and cover the pan. Steam for a couple of minutes or until cooked through
9
Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and serve with your dipping sauce of choice
First published in 2015

Victoria is a London-based food writer and recipe developer. She was the Roald Dahl Museum’s first ever Gastronomic Writer in Residence and has written six books, including her latest, Too Good To Waste.

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