Pan-Seared Gyoza Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying

Adapted by Kiera Wright-Ruiz

Pan-Seared Gyoza Recipe (1)

Total Time
2 hours
Rating
4(590)
Notes
Read community notes

Gyoza are plump, Japanese dumplings typically filled with a mixture of ground pork, cabbage, chives, ginger and garlic. They originated as a spin-off of Chinese jiaozi, but they differ in many ways, particularly in how they are wrapped: Gyoza have very thin wrappers sealed with signature pleats, while Chinese jiaozi have thick wrappers that vary in how they are sealed. Throughout Japan, you can find gyoza steamed, pan-fried and deep-fried, and in recent years, lattice-edged dumplings have become popular. Made by pouring a slurry of flour and water into the pan with the dumplings, the water evaporates and the batter creates a crisp, lacy net. This pan-fried version is adapted from “The Gaijin Cookbook: Japanese Recipes from a Chef, Father, Eater, and Lifelong Outsider,” a collection of Japanese recipes from the chef Ivan Orkin, an owner of two ramen shops in New York. (Instructions for creating a lattice are below the recipe.) —Kiera Wright-Ruiz

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Ingredients

Yield:60 gyoza (4 to 6 servings)

    For the Dipping Sauce

    • ½cup soy sauce
    • 2tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
    • 1 to 2teaspoons Japanese chile oil (rayu) or Chinese chile oil (optional), or to taste

    For the Gyoza

    • 1pound green cabbage (about ½ medium head)
    • 4teaspoons kosher salt
    • ¾pound ground pork
    • 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced ginger
    • 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 1cup chopped garlic chives (nira) or regular chives
    • 1tablespoon soy sauce
    • 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
    • Cornstarch or potato starch, for sprinkling
    • 60gyoza wrappers (about 12 ounces)
    • Neutral oil (such as vegetable or canola oil), for frying

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

694 calories; 52 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 29 grams monounsaturated fat; 13 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 1684 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Pan-Seared Gyoza Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Prepare the gyoza dipping sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce and rice vinegar, plus chile oil, if using. Set aside (makes a generous ½ cup).

  2. Step

    2

    Finely chop the cabbage or process it in a food processor into confetti-size bits, then transfer it to a sieve set over a large bowl. Toss with 2 teaspoons of the salt and let sit for 20 minutes in the sink. Gently press the cabbage to squeeze out as much water as you can.

  3. Combine the drained cabbage, pork, ginger, garlic, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly just until everything is evenly distributed. (Don’t overdo it: Too much handling and the fat in the pork will begin to melt.)

  4. Step

    4

    Here’s where you want to employ some extra hands to help you: Fill a small bowl with water. Sprinkle a rimmed sheet pan or two with cornstarch or potato starch to prevent the finished gyoza from sticking. For each gyoza, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand and spoon about 1½ teaspoons of the filling into the center. Use the back of the spoon to smoosh it lightly (it should fill about half the wrapper). You don’t want the filling to run to the edges, but you also don’t want it sitting in a fat clump in the middle. Dip your finger into the water and run it along the perimeter of one half of the wrapper. Now fold the wet edge of the wrapper over to meet the dry edge. Crimp the edges together at one corner, then proceed around the dumpling, using your finger to push the dough into little pleats on one side and pressing them against the other side to seal it. (If you need more guidance, there are hundreds of gyoza-folding videos online.) Place the gyoza on the sheet pan as you finish them. If your gyoza seem to be sticking to one another, sprinkle each layer of gyozas with potato or cornstarch.

  5. Step

    5

    To pan-fry the gyoza, you will need a lidded 10-inch nonstick pan or a well-seasoned carbon steel pan. (You could also use whatever skillet you have, but increase the oil and keep a close eye on the gyoza.) Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in the pan over medium heat. When hot, add 10 to 15 gyoza, flat-side down, and cook until browned on the bottoms, 2 to 3 minutes. Add enough water to come just under a quarter of the way up the gyoza (about ½ cup, depending on how many gyoza you have in the pan), cover, and let the water cook away until the pan is dry and the gyoza wrappers have softened completely, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and let the gyoza crisp up on the bottoms for another minute or two, depending on how crisp you like them. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce and additional chile oil. Wipe the pan clean and cook the remaining gyoza. (Alternately, uncooked gyoza can be frozen on a baking sheet in a single layer until firm and then stored in resealable plastic bags for a couple months. To cook frozen gyoza, add a second batch of water in step 4 after the first batch evaporates.)

Tip

  • For a lattice net, arrange about 12 uncooked gyoza flat-side down in a tight circle in a room temperature pan. Set over medium heat and add enough water to come a quarter of the way up the gyoza (about ⅔ cup), cover, and let the water cook away until the pan is dry, about 4 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make the lattice batter: In a small bowl, whisk together 1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour with 5 tablespoons water and ½ teaspoon sesame oil. Once the water has evaporated from the pan, remove the lid then add the lattice batter. Swirl the pan to distribute the batter into an even layer and cook, rotating if need be to promote even cooking, until the water has mostly evaporated and the batter has formed a crisp, golden layer at the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Invert a large plate on top, flip the pan over and give it a good shake to release the gyoza mixture and its lattice net. (This step takes practice, so don’t despair if it doesn't turn out perfectly: The dumplings will still be delicious.) Repeat with the remaining gyoza and additional lattice batter, wiping out the pan and allowing it to cool a bit between each batch.

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590

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

cook.bot

I especially like that they consider 15 gyoza to be a serving. Finally, someone understands!

Linda

I have made them from scratch, but to be honest, Trader Joe’s are so good and inexpensive, it doesn’t pay to make them.

Marcy

We make these all the time and love them, but this last time around ran out of wrappers so used the extra filling in fried rice. I’ll always make sure to have extra filling from now on because it was DELICIOUS

jonas

It is dead easy to make your own wrappers. Just follow any recipe and use a pasta machine to roll out the dough.

Robbie

Some tips for the best gyoza:1) Squeezing as much moisture out of the cabbage is essential. Otherwise, it gets soggy.2) Microwave a small chunk of filling to taste ingredient levels before wrapping.3) Get the thinnest circular wrappers you can find. The thinner, the crisper, but also harder to fold.4) Alton Brown’s 2-2-2 fry-steam-fry works well.5) These things freeze easily (cookie sheet then bag) and are a super easy go-to meal later.

world vegetarian

Kate: you can mince up some mushrooms (shiitake) and dice up some fried tofu (find at any Asian market), or barring the fried tofu, use well drained tofu (firm, soft, silken -- doesn't matter). The mushrooms and the tofu will work to bind it together, as the pork does. My (Japanese, from Wakayama) husband will sometimes also add GimmeLean "sausage" (though I find it too gamey). If you use mushrooms + tofu, taste + see if you need to amp up the seasonings. Itadakimasu!

Midori

I’m originally from Japan, and I love to make homemade Gyoza. You can mince up whatever you want. I used to put some sesame oil in my gyozas, and if you don’t like it just omit. I think keys of the cooking gyoza are very simple. Place gyozas in the hot pan for a couple minutes and add a little water in the pan for steaming. Enjoy your style gyoza!!

Deb

All of Trader Joe’s frozen foods are loaded w/sodium. That’s their preservative. Go; look at the nutrition label... I cannot eat their frozen meals. Although I love everything else... which isn’t crammed w/sodium!

Luke S

Curious, if that is the attitude why not just buy everything premade? Some of us actually like to cook and learn new techniques.

Bill

Using Chili Japanese Ponzu sauce really livens up the dipping sauce!

Sandy S B

Is the pork cooked before it's mixed with the cabbage, garlic, etc?

Stephanie

I found this recipe to be a little on the salty side using the 4 tsps of salt as recommended. I think the filling would be just fine without the extra two tsps that are added after the cabbage is squeezed.

Cristobal

From these very pages:

Emily

It is. You may want to test a few with an instant read thermometer to confirm, but the stated cooking times were more than enough for the pork to be fully cooked.

Jon N.

Filling was way too salty.

Juice

We’ll worth all the work!

olivia

Love this recipe, but it was a bit salty. For next time, I think I’ll just use the salt for the cabbage and not add in the extra two teaspoons.

David

The recipe for the filling has way too much cabbage. Use about half of what it suggests. As others mention it's also very salty - suggest using half as much cabbage and half as much salt.

laura

So good! Kids had fun making. Agree don’t need addl salt in full mix. The dipping sauce is plenty salty.

intherainycity

Make your own wrappers - 3 cups of all purpose flour and 1 cup of warm water and a dash of salt. Knead and let dough rest for an hour. Then use your hands to roll it out into a long cord of dough - about an inch in diameter. Cut the dough cord into 1 inch segments. Use Rolling pin to roll out to flat circles

Jessie

Followed the cooking instructions exactly, but the gyoza stuck to the bottom of our non-stick pan. We boiled the second batch and then pan-fried them with a bit of oil and they were delicious.

Emily

Really delicious! Making the wrappers from scratch adds an extra layer of work, and our folding technique left a lot to be desired - but the gyoza cooked beautifully, and the recipe is clear and easy to follow.We used kale instead of cabbage and garlic scapes instead of garlic/chives, as this is what we had from the garden.

julia

Has anyone tried the lattice net? I’m tempted but intimidated.

Paulette

A picture of the lattice net would be helpful.Hard to understand why you would do that extra step.

Toby

Oh, for God’ sake! Buy the frozen gyoza from TJ or your Asian market and make your own dipping sauce. Work smarter, not harder, I say.

Luke S

Curious, if that is the attitude why not just buy everything premade? Some of us actually like to cook and learn new techniques.

Lmd

Ground turkey instead of pork is a nice lean alternative.

RDCollins

I agree about Trader Joe's gyoza — nearly as good as what you find in Japanese restaurant, come in a couple of varsities (e.g., chicken, veggie, etc.) and a lot less work.

wen123

Add five spice and hot pepper to mixtureLess saltNo sesame oilHoney in sauce

marianna

This is a great recipe. We skipped the cabbage and skipped adding the salt, but we still found it a little salty for our taste. I think next time we will use low sodium soy. Absolutely delicious.

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Pan-Seared Gyoza Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What kind of oil do you pan-fry gyoza in? ›

The panfrying method starts with lightly frying dumplings in a generous splash of neutral oil, like canola or vegetable, then finishes the cooking process by creating intense steam from pouring liquid into the hot pan. Start by adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of neutral oil to a nonstick pan over medium-high heat.

What is the best pan to make gyoza in? ›

To pan-fry the gyoza, you will need a lidded 10-inch nonstick pan or a well-seasoned carbon steel pan. (You could also use whatever skillet you have, but increase the oil and keep a close eye on the gyoza.)

What is the difference between pan-fried dumplings and gyoza? ›

In Japan, gyoza is almost exclusively pan-fried and steamed, served on its own or with a salty and tangy dipping sauce. Dumplings can be boiled, steamed, or fried; served as is, with a spicy sauce, or in a soup.

Is gyoza better pan-fried or steamed? ›

Dumplings should be steamed. In my opinion they cease to be dumplings when they are fried, they turn into a TGI Friday's appetizer. Gyoza, or potstickers are delicious when crisped on the bottom and then steamed, but they still retain a good bit of tenderness in their skin.

Is it better to steam or fry gyoza? ›

For Crispy Dumplings Use the Classic Steam-Fry

This double-frying creates an extra-crisp bottom crust. The instructions on the back of a bag of frozen dumplings often skip the initial fry in the way of convenience, but it's worth taking the time if you're going to use this method.

What's the difference between gyoza and dumplings? ›

The gyoza was soon born with a thinner dumpling wrapper and more finely chopped stuffing. The dish is most commonly pan fried to create a wonderful crispy texture that also enhances its unique flavors.

What are the three types of gyoza? ›

There are usually three types of gyoza that are found and enjoyed in Japan. That is yaki gyoza, age gyoza, and sui gyoza. The traditional method of steaming isn't so often seen in Japan unless dining in a Chinese food establishment.

Is gyoza Chinese or Japanese? ›

These delicious treats are Japanese dumplings, made with a variety of different fillings. They are very similar to the Chinese 'jiaozi', commonly known as 'potstickers', however there are some differences.

Is gyoza the same as Potsticker? ›

Gyoza is the Japanese variation on the traditional Chinese recipe of potstickers. They are usually made with thinner, more delicate wrappers, and the filling is more finely textured. The thinner skins mean that gyoza get crispier than chewy potstickers.

Is it better to steam or pan fry dumplings? ›

The steaming process is what creates the shiny-looking soft exterior! Steaming is the traditional way of preparing dumplings and has never gone out of style. Many people around the world are loyal to this method of cooking and prefer it over pan-fried dumplings.

Is pan-fried gyoza healthy? ›

Steamed dumplings are the best option in terms of fat content, with pan fried the next best. “If they do fry it -- like gyoza which are usually lightly fried -- then it puts the fat content up a little,” Austin said. “You want to avoid ones that have been completely deep fried.”

How to make pan seared dumpling? ›

In a large, non-stick pan, heat 1-2 tbsp. of oil over medium heat. Place the dumplings in the pan and fry on both sides until golden brown (you will need to do this in batches). Once golden brown, add a few tablespoons of water and cover with a lid to steam for about 3-5 minutes until the pork is cooked through.

How long to pan sear dumplings? ›

Cook the dumplings

Add dumplings to an oiled skillet, pleated side up. Pour 1/2 cup water into pan; cover and cook until bottoms are crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.

Why does my gyoza stick to the pan? ›

Don't brown too fast or they'll burn and stick. The next step is to steam the dumplings with a little water. Don't add too much -- the goal is to steam and not boil -- maybe 1/4 cup at most for a big pan. Steam just long enough until middle and top portions of the dumplings are cooked.

Can you fry gyoza with olive oil? ›

1. PAN-FRIED: We use olive oil to cook the bottom of the gyoza, hence, we got a crispy bottom (The top part still soft)!!!

Is vegetable oil or olive oil better for dumplings? ›

You don't want your oil to burn and corrupt the flavor, and you don't want any strange flavors to interfere with your dumplings. So avoid olive oil and coconut oil. Vegetable and canola oil are great options, while avocado oil has an incredibly high smoke point and neutral flavor.

Can you pan fry dumplings with olive oil? ›

We're trying to cut down on our saturated fat intake so I tried making dumplings without suet, using olive oil, milk and some dried herbs. They tasted delicious with stew and the kids really enjoyed them as well. Dumplings are quick, easy to make and ridiculously cheap.

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