Steamed Gyoza Dumplings

These Steamed Gyoza Dumplings are a variation of the RecipeTin Eats Gyoza recipe. Instead of pan-frying the dumplings, they are steamed. The shape of my gyoza is different, but the filling is very similar to that of pan-fried gyoza.

This recipe contains higher ratio of garlic chives than the standard gyoza, giving it a slightly stronger garlic flavour, which I think suits steamed gyoza better.

Even though the ingredients are almost the same, steamed gyoza is quite a different dish from pan-fried gyoza – appearance and texture are different, and it has less calories. It is also faster to cook, as you can steam all the dumplings at once.

To maximise the number of gyoza that I can put in a steamer, I also changed the shape so that the dumplings stand upright. It looks like a Yum Cha (Dim Sum) dish and are quite different from usual gyoza.

Gyoza Variations

There are 4 ways of cooking gyoza: pan-fried gyoza (as found in RecipeTin Eats), steamed gyoza (today’s recipe), boiled gyoza, and deep-fried gyoza.

By far the most popular gyoza in Japan is pan-fried gyoza. When people say ‘gyoza’ (餃子), they usually mean pan-fried gyoza. To distinguish gyoza cooked using other methods, a prefix is added to the word ‘gyoza’ (餃子) to indicate the cooking method.

Steamed gyoza is called ‘mushi gyoza’ (蒸し餃子), boiled gyoza is ‘sui gyoza’ or ‘mizu gyoza’ (水餃子), and deep-fried gyoza is ‘age gyoza’ (揚げ餃子).

From top left clockwise: Pan-fried gyoza, steamed gyoza, deep-fried gyoza, boiled gyoza.

There are no strict rules, but boiled gyoza is usually shaped like pan-fried gyoza – moon shaped and with or without pleats.

Age gyoza can be made simply by deep-frying regular gyoza instead of pan-frying them. Some age gyoza recipes seal the wrappers by pressing the edges with a fork, instead of making pleats. There are different pleating patterns too.

I think the moon shape is best suited for pan-fried and deep-fried gyoza, but steamed gyoza and boiled gyoza can be any shape.

Using the same ingredients, you can make 4 kinds of gyoza!

What’s in my Steamed Gyoza Dumplings

• Very finely chopped cabbage
• Salt
• Finely chopped garlic chives
• Pork mince/ground pork
• Crushed (or grated) garlic
• Grated ginger
• Sesame oil
• Soy source
• Corn flour/cornstarch
• 30 gyoza wrapping sheets.

It might not be as healthy as lean pork mince, but regular pork mince from the supermarket works better for gyoza. The fat makes the filling sticky, smooth, and softer.

If you can’t find garlic chives, you can use either normal chives or the green part of green onions. In that case, double the amount of garlic to compensate for the garlicky flavour.

Dipping Sauce

• Soy sauce
• Rice wine vinegar
• Rāyu (Japanese chilli oil, optional).

If you prefer, you can just use soy sauce.

How to Make Steamed Gyoza Dumplings

1. Sprinkle salt over the cabbage to wilt it. Squeeze out the excess water.
2. Mix all the ingredients, including the cabbage, until the filling becomes sticky.
3. Wet the edge of a gyoza wrapper and place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the centre.
4. Fold the sheet over the filling to form a semi-circle. Wet one edge of the wrapper and connect it to the opposite edge to create a round base. Repeat for the rest of the gyoza wrapping sheets.
5. Place the gyoza in a steamer and steam for 12 minutes.
6. Serve while hot with the dipping sauce.

There are no rules about the shape of steamed gyoza, and you can shape it differently from mine. Compared to the standard gyoza shape, my shape takes up less space in the steamer, allowing more dumplings to be cooked at once.

I used a large bamboo steamer (27cm / 10⅝” in diameter) placed over a wok, but you can also steam them in a steamer pot or even on a plate set inside a regular pot.

I shared Steamed Gyoza Dumplings with my family, and the feedback was very good. They are a healthier version of gyoza and were well received by my family.

You can refrigerate uncooked gyoza in an airtight container the day before you cook them. Uncooked gyoza can also be frozen for a couple of months. You don’t need to defrost them when cooking, but you will need to steam for a couple of minutes longer than cooking fresh gyoza.

Cooked gyoza dumplings can also be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. To reheat, it is best to steam them for 5+ minutes, but you can also microwave them. Splash water over the dumplings, cover them with cling wrap, and microwave for a few to several minutes depending on the number of dumplings to reheat.

I hope you give these Steamed Gyoza Dumplings a try.

Watch How To Make It

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Steamed Gyoza Dumplings

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Time to wilt cabbage

12 mins

Total Time

52 mins

 

These Steamed Gyoza Dumplings are a variation of the RecipeTin Eats Gyoza recipe. Instead of pan-frying the dumplings, they are steamed. The shape of my gyoza is different, but the filling is very similar to that of pan-fried gyoza.

Steamed Gyoza can be an excellent finger food too.

See the video.

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Main

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: dim sum, ground pork recipe, Pork Mince Recipes, Steamed Dumplings

Serves: 30 pieces

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

Filling

• 3/5 cup cabbage , very finely chopped (note 1)
• ½ tsp salt , separated
• 3/5 cup garlic chives , finely chopped (note 1)
• 250g / 8.8oz pork mince (ground pork)
• ½ tsp garlic , crushed
• ⅔ tsp ginger , grated
• ⅔ tsp sesame oil
• 1½ tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp corn flour/cornstarch

Gyoza

• A large pinch corn flour/cornstarch
• 30 round gyoza wrappers (note 2)
• Water in a small bowl

Dipping sauce (note 3)

• Soy sauce
• Rice wine vinegar
• Rāyu (Japanese chilli oil, optional)

Instructions

Filling

1. Combine half of the salt (i.e. ¼ teaspoon) and the cabbage in a bowl and leave it for 20 minutes to allow the cabbage to wilt.

2. Squeeze out excess water from the cabbage, then place it in a bowl together with the remaining Filling ingredients.
3. Mix the filling well by hand until it becomes almost sticky, ensuring that all the ingredients are evenly combined.

Wrapping Gyoza

1. Sprinkle a baking tray with a large pinch of corn flour/cornstarch.
2. Place 1 gyoza wrapper on your left palm (for right-handers). Dip your finger in water and run it around the edge of half of the gyoza wrapper (to seal).

3. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling (note 4) in the centre of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling and seal it to form a semi-circle. When sealing, gently press out the air around the filling so there are no air pockets inside the dumpling.

4. Wet one edge of the wrapper and bring it over to meet the other edge to form a circle. Press the edges together firmly.
5. Repeat with the remaining wrappers.

Steaming Gyoza using a Bamboo Steamer

1. Make a round steaming paper liner with many holes (see the video) that fits inside the steamer. This prevents the gyoza skins from sticking to the bamboo.
2. Place the gyoza on the paper liner without touching each other. You may need to gently push the gyoza down to stand upright.
3. If your bamboo steamer cannot hold all 30 gyoza pieces at once (note 5), steam them in batches.
4. Fill a wok with about 5cm / 2” of water and bring it to a boil.
5. When the water starts boiling, place the bamboo steamer onto the wok and steam for 12 minutes.

Steaming Gyoza Using a Steamer Pot/Pan, or without a Steamer

1. Please refer to my Shumai Recipe instructions, but steam the gyoza for 12 minutes. You may need more than 1 cup of water to steam for 12 minutes.

Serving

1. If you are using a bamboo steamer, you could serve gyoza directly in the steamer. If using a steamer pot/pan, transfer the gyoza to a plate. If steamed on a plate inside a pot, serve the steaming plate with the gyoza on it.

2. Serve with soy sauce, vinegar, and chilli oil, with a small dipping bowls.

Recipe Notes

1. You can change the ratio of these ingredients as long as the total weight/volume is roughly the same. It doesn’t matter if the weight of the vegetables is slightly more or less than specified.

If you can’t find garlic chives, you can use either normal chives or the green part of the spring onions and double the amount of garlic.

2. You can buy gyoza wrapping sheets at Japanese/Asian grocery stores. Some supermarkets also sell them.

They usually come in packs of 20-30 sheets, but most packs contain 30. The label on the package typically shows either ‘gyoza’ or ‘gow gee’.

3. There are no rules for the ratio of soy sauce to vinegar. Some people may not use vinegar at all.

4. Ideally, each dumpling should contain the same amount of filling. If you want to be precise, weigh the entire filling and divide the weight by 30 to calculate the amount of filling per wrapper.

My filling weighed 380g / 13.4oz, so each dumpling needed 12.7g / 0.45oz of filling, which was roughly 2 teaspoons.

When there are only about 10 wrappers left, I evenly divide the remaining filling among them so that the filling is used up and gyoza pieces are similar sizes.

5. I used a very large bamboo steamer (27cm / 10⅝" in diameter) that could hold 30 gyoza at once. If you have a two-tier steamer, you may also be able to steam them all at once too.

6. You can refrigerate uncooked gyoza in an airtight container the day before you cook them. Uncooked gyoza can also be frozen for a couple of months. You don’t need to defrost them when cooking, but you will need to steam for a couple of minutes longer than cooking fresh gyoza.

Cooked gyoza dumplings can also be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. To reheat, it is best to steam them for 5+ minutes, but you can also microwave them. Splash water over the dumplings, cover them with cling wrap, and microwave for a few to several minutes depending on the number of dumplings to reheat.

7. Nutrition per piece.

serving: 20g calories: 40kcal fat: 1.2g (2%) saturated fat: 0.3g (2%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.2g monounsaturated fat: 0.4g cholesterol: 8mg (3%) sodium: 85mg (3%) carbohydrates: 4g (1%) dietary fibre: 0.2g (1%) sugar: 0g protein: 3g vitamin D: 0.1mcg (1%) calcium: 8mg (1%) iron: 0.3mg (2%) potassium: 16mg (1%)