EATS: Vegan Gyoza Recipe

Being American Japanese, Gyoza is one of my favorite dishes that I grew up with. The crisp outer skin of the Gyoza filled with the rich flavors of vegetables and Japanese oils and sauces makes Gyoza a staple comfort food for me. If you’re not familiar, Gyoza are Japanese pan-fried dumplings, created through a process of both frying and steaming. In Japan, ramen houses will serve plates full of steaming hot Gyoza and it’s a wonderful culinary experience that engages all the senses.

Traditionally, Gyoza is made with vegetable and pork filling. Even though it’s very tasty with pork, over the last three years I’ve drastically reduced my meat intake. Creating more vegetarian and vegan meals is part of a conscious decision to improve and maintain my health as well as to adopt more eco-friendly food practices in our household.

With that in mind, I wanted to create a plant-based vegan Gyoza recipe to share with you. While we continue to push through this pandemic and social unrest I think a lot of us are turning to create comfort foods many of which embrace and celebrate our diverse cultural backgrounds. I hope that you enjoy this recipe for vegan Gyoza. Note, folding Gyoza can be a bit tricky. Watch the video for instruction on folding Gyoza.

Vegan Gyoza Ingredients

• 3 cups mushrooms (I used a mix of white button and Maitake mushrooms)

• 1 cup cabbage, chopped

• 1/2 a carrot, peeled and chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, minced and separated into two parts

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated

• 1 teaspoon mirin

• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1/4 cup green onion

• 1 Tablespoon potato starch

• 10 ounces of soft tofu

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

• 2 Tablespoons high heat oil

• 1 package organic gyoza wraps

Gyoza Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon chili oil

• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

• optional, fresh chopped green onions

Vegan Gyoza Instructions

• Place 1 Tablespoon of oil into sauté pan over medium high heat.

• Add mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, salt and pepper. Mix and allow to cook.

• Add 1/2 of your garlic clove into the mixture

• Next, incorporate grated ginger, soy sauce and tofu into the sauté pan, break up the tofu with a rubber spatula and allow to cook down for about two minutes.

• Add mirin and sesame oil. Allow to cook for another minute or two. Add green onion and the remaining garlic.

• Finally, add potato starch to the mixture and combine well.

• Remove the mix from heat and place in a medium mixing bowl. Place in refrigerator to cool for 20-30 minutes.

• place a small dish of water next to your gyoza wrappers and lay a little potato starch onto your preparation dish.

• lay gyoza wrapper flat on your hand. Dip your finger in the water dish and brush water on the edge of one half of the gyoza wrapper. Fill the wrapper with the vegetable mix, leaving a generous amount of space in the gyoza wrapper itself for folding. Once the wrapper is filled, fold in half and create pleated folds to seal the top (watch video to see how)

• Once all your gyoza are prepared, place medium saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of oil. Place gyoza in a circle on the pan making sure each piece of gyoza is touching the piece to either side of it.

• Cook gyoza until the bottom is crisp and golden brown.

• Once gyoza is golden brown, add about 1 Tablespoon of water to the pan and cover with a lid. Allow gyoza to steam until all the water has evaporated.

• Place serving dish over the pan, flip gyoza onto your servings dish.

• Serve with dipping sauce.