Vegetable gyoza, and thoughts on learning to cook

Green onions, cilantro, garlic, ginger, carrots, and baby bok choy

When I originally set out to create the Provident Potato, it was my intention to help inquiring minds learn to cook.  I know a lot of people who would like to learn, but can’t figure out where to start.  Cooking regularly is an art, and it’s different from simply following a recipe.  You waste a lot of food if you don’t know how to put one ingredient into multiple uses.  Cooking seasonally asks one to make many different dishes from similar ingredients, and if you’re just learning to cook, this blog is a great place for you to start.  With this in mind, I’ve written detailed instructions for those of you out there who might not yet be old hands in the kitchen.  If you know what you’re doing, feel free to skip the details and head straight to the parts that are most useful to you.

You can make gyoza with a variety of fillings, but it is best served in its vegetarian incarnation in the spring when green leafy veggies are abundant.  Many recipes for gyoza call for using cabbage, but I prefer to use baby bok choy (which is actually a type of cabbage, but your non-cabbage eating friends will never know.) Baby bok choy is far milder than it’s grown up self, and it lends itself well to sharing the spotlight with other flavors.  It’s also insanely good for you!

Vegetable Gyoza

Filling:

-8 heads of baby bok choy, washed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

-4 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (use a cheese grater)

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-2-3 Tbsp fresh ginger root, peeled and minced

-1 good handful cilantro, stems removed, roughly chopped

-2 green onions, chopped into 1/8 inch rounds

-2 Tbsp sesame oil

-1/4 cup chicken stock (vegetable stock is fine too, if that’s how you roll)

-bowl with a 1 Tbsp rice vinegar and 4 Tbsp water in it

Dipping Sauce:

-1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

-1/4 cup rice vinegar

-1 green onion, chopped into 1/8 inch rounds

Pour sesame oil to a non-stick saute pan and heat on high for about 1-2 minutes until oil is hot (but not too hot or it will splash when you add ingredients…you’ll know how long it takes after a try or two.  Oil should sizzle when you add things to it, but should not spit and scream.)

Add 3/4 of the garlic, all of the ginger, and the bok choy.  Turn down the heat to medium.  Stir to incorporate and cook for about 3 minutes until bok choy looks slightly wilted, but still fresh.

Add carrot, the rest of the garlic, and the chicken (or vegetable) stock.  Return heat to high and stir intermittently for 2 minutes, or until the stock has reduced by about half.  Turn off the heat, add the cilantro and green onion, and stir to incorporate.  Add salt to taste.

Lay out a sheet of wax paper onto a cutting board.  Carefully lay out 6 wonton wrappers, and spoon a generous Tbsp of filling into the middle of each wrapper.  The idea is to fill the wrapper, but not so full that you tear the delicate dough when you fold the whole deal in half (see image below.)  Dab your finger into the rice vinegar/water bowl and wet the outer perimeter of each wonton wrapper.  Use just enough water to wet the outer perimeter of the wonton.  Too much will make the dough too soggy to lift–too little and you won’t be able to seal the triangle when you fold it over.  You’ll get the feel for it after you do a few.

Fold each filled wonton wrapper in half to form a triangle with the filling in the middle, making sure each side is completely closed without any filling sticking out.  Fold the corners of the triangle in towards the center, so what you are left with is a triangle with no points.  You can leave the points if you like, but I find they tend to cook a lot faster than the rest of the pocket, and are prone to burning. Set the first 6 aside, and repeat this process until you’ve used all of the filling (or run out of wrappers!)

Gyoza before and after the fold

At this point, you can do one of two things (or both, if you’ve made a lot!)  If you would like to save the gyoza for use later, you can easily freeze them at this point (skip this paragraph and move on to the next if you plan to cook right away.)  Because the liquid in the wrapper has made the dough weak, you need to take steps to prevent them from losing their shape. Lay a sheet of wax paper onto a cookie sheet, or simply fill up the cutting board you are currently using, making sure that the gyoza don’t touch.  Layer another sheet of wax paper on top, and carefully put a plastic grocery bag over the whole deal, folding the edges under to keep as much air out of the package as possible.  You can use saran wrap for this as well, but re-using bags is better, and easier too.  Place the pan on a flat surface in the freezer and let everybody firm up for about 3 hours.  When the dough feels frozen to the touch and is stiff when moved, you can transfer the whole batch into a freezer bag or other container.  Remember, air is your enemy in the freezer!  The less air in the package,  the longer your gyoza will keep without getting freezer burn.

If you prefer to eat these bad boys fresh, give the non-stick pan you sautéed the veggies in a quick wipe out to get rid of any remaining veggie particles (leftover oil is fine, veggies will burn.)  Add 1 TBSP olive oil to the pan and heat until hot.  Add gyoza, seam side up, to the pan.  Make sure each gyoza gets some oil on its bottom and is not sticking when you put it into the pan.  The oil will give it a crispy outer layers, and will keep it from sticking.  Lay as many gyoza into the pan as you can without overlapping them.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes and check the bottom of one or two to make sure they’ve browned sufficiently before flipping.  Cook the other side for about 2 minutes (they won’t brown quite as nicely as the other side because they will be sitting in less oil, so be careful not to burn them!)

Plate and serve with the dipping sauce, and enjoy!  If you’re serving these to guests, get ready to be hailed as an amazing cook.  Yeah, they’re that good.

I served this with a simple green salad (lettuce, green onion, baby greens, and balsamic vinaigrette)

Serves 2 for dinner (also FANTASTIC as hor d’oeuvres!)

Notes:

-Wonton wrappers are almost the same as gyoza wrappers, but they’re more common and therefor easier to find locally.  The principal difference is their thickness.  Wonton wrappers are thinner than gyoza wrappers, which make them a little more fragile, but I think they’re better because they crisp up nicely in a pan without having to be fried.

-This recipe calls for the use of sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and wonton wrappers.  If you live in California, these are relatively easy to find locally (with the exception of soy sauce–perhaps you know of one you could share with other readers in the comment section?)  Marukan Rice Vinegar is made in California, making it an excellent brand to use if you live here.  It’s also one of the best, and I used it long before I started this project.  Sesame oil is a relatively simple thing to make, so you can find it locally in many places.  California has many to choose from.  I’m still using up my old supply, but I’ll let you know who I buy from when I buy more!  If you don’t live in a place with as much abundance as California, and can’t find these ingredients from local sources, don’t despair.  You don’t have to be 100% local in everything you use in your cooking to make a huge impact on your carbon footprint.  Do what you can, and don’t worry about what you can’t do.  Some action is definitely better than no action.  Of course if you find locally sourced substitutes for this recipe, be sure to let us know in the comment section!

-The filling for the gyoza can easily be used as a topping for pasta as well.  If you have the veggies, but don’t have the time to make gyoza, try adding the filling to pasta instead!  Just increase the stock from 1/4 cup to a whole cup, and add another Tbsp of sesame oil to the filling before you toss it with the boiled and drained pasta.

Happy eating!