This Japanese Gyoza recipe is my mothers’, and it’s a traditional, authentic recipe. Juicy on the inside, a golden brown and crispy base, these are made in a skillet and are one of my all time favourite Japanese dishes! Watch the recipe video and you’ll be a Gyoza-Wrapping-Master in no time.
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Though my brother, sister and I all know how to make Japanese food, it’s an unspoken rule that when it comes to Japanese food, that’s mum’s domain. So if any of us have a particular craving for a Japanese meal, we submit requests.
Sister: “Mum, can you make oden for us this weekend? Puh-lease??”
Brother: “Mum, we’re heading out to the harbour for New Years’ Eve fireworks. Can you make us some bento boxes?”
Me: “Mum, we haven’t had karaage in ages. I need some!”
And typically, she obliges. Though normally, her response to my request is firstly “Aren’t you on a diet?”, to which I always respond (defensively) with “I’m not going to have much!!“.
Gyoza is requested every couple of months or so – it’s a huge favorite in our family. Even though I’m perfectly capable of making it myself, as are my brother and sister, I don’t think any of us make it without mum present! It’s like some kind of unspoken tradition that mum makes the filling then one of us – sometimes all of us – gather to help wrap them.
Though you can find gyoza in many eating places in Japan, the most traditional place they are found is in ramen joints. A big bowl of steaming ramen and a side of gyoza. It’s so Japanese. Even though I can barely manage to get through an entire bowl of ramen myself, I always get gyoza.
And you know what? Without fail, every single time we order gyoza, whether here in Sydney or even in Japan, one of us always says “It’s not as good as mum’s”. 😉
The main thing you will find, especially outside of Japan, is that there is more cabbage used so the filling is less “meaty”, and there is very little garlic flavour. Don’t skimp on the meat!!! And definitely don’t skimp on the garlic flavour!!!
I am seriously in love with Gyoza. The crispy golden base and the steamed top. I also love the way it’s cooked – just in a skillet – no steamer required!
It’s honestly one of my all-time favorite foods. And I do get a little kick out of our tradition to gather and wrap the Gyoza together. 🙂
On another note……I think I may have bullied my mother into starting a Japanese food blog! WOO HOO!! I’ve been very sneaky, I totally guilt tripped her into it by saying it would be her legacy to us kids. And it’s actually very true that I have alarmingly few of her recipes in my collection.
I think it WORKED!!! I’m sooooo excited! All my favourite real proper Japanese recipes, all in one place! So watch this space…… – Nagi x
PS Traditionally, gyoza is served as part of a multi-course meal or as a side. But in my family, we make an enormous batch, enough to have just gyoza as a meal. That’s the way we roll!
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Japanese GYOZA (Dumplings)
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups green cabbage, very finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt, separated
- 1 lb / 500g ground pork (mince) (fattier the better)
- 1 cup garlic chives, finely chopped (Note 1)
- 1 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch / corn flour
- 2 tsp soy sauce
Gyoza
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch) – for tray
- 40 – 45 round wonton (gyoza) wrappers (Gow Gee wrappers) – 1 1/2 packets (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil (or other cooking oil)
Dipping Sauce
- Soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- Chili oil (Rayu is Japanese chili oil)
Instructions
- Combine cabbage and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl, then set aside for 20 minutes to allow the cabbage to wilt slightly.
- Place remaining Filling ingredients (including remaining 1/2 tsp salt) in a large bowl. Squeeze out any excess water from the cabbage and add to the bowl.
- Use your hands to mix the Filling.
- Sprinkle a baking tray with 1 tsp of cornstarch / cornflour.
- Place 1 gyoza wrapper on your palm (left hand for right-handed people). Dip your finger in water and run it around the edge of half the gyoza wrapper (to seal).
- Place 1 slightly heaped tbsp of Filling on the wrapper. Fold wrapper over and use your right hand assisted by your left hand thumb to create 4 pleats. Press to seal and place on the tray. Repeat with remaining wrappers. (See video for demo)
To Cook
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet (that has a lid) over medium high heat.
- Place about 12 gyoza in rows, slightly overlapping each other. Cook until the underside is light golden, then pour 1/3 cup of water around the gyoza and place the lid on.
- Cook until the water has completely evaporated (so the golden underside is not wet and soggy) and the wrapper is slightly translucent on top – about 3 to 4 minutes. (See video)
- Use an egg flip to transfer onto a plate upside down i.e. golden side up.
- Serve with Dipping Sauce.
Dipping Sauce
- Serve each ingredient separately so people can mix according to their taste. I use about equal portions of soy sauce and vinegar with a generous splash of chili oil.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Drying off after a morning at the beach….
I made a batch of these the other day, and my husband said they were the best he’s had ( excluding his mother’s) lol, he’s Japanese too! I thought I read somewhere that you can freeze them. I cooked all of mine and froze them, but I don’t know how to reheat them. Can you help? Thanks…Ann in Canada
HIGH PRAISE!!! Abolsutely you can freeze them (in the notes), place them in a single layer and only overlap the edges to the extent of a “batch” size that you expect to cook (because they will break if you need to separate them). Then cook from frozen!
We couldn’t find round in a hurry so using square wraps. Wish me luck!
You don’t need luck! 😉
Hi, here’s a way to get round wrappers: biscuit cutter! Works great. Kitchen shears will round the corners easily, too.
Hello..thank you so much for the recipe..i just made it and its so delicious..my friends just loved it🤗🤗🤗
I’m so pleased to hear that Anne! Thank you for letting me know – N x
Hi, I have now made the twice and I love them! I love the fact that I have almost mastered the folding and I found it quite peaceful doing (maybe because the kids leave me alone to make them so they can eat them!?)…but they are just divine. So thank you so much for sharing and for great and brilliant instructions! (Loved the video too!)
That’s SO GREAT to hear Kristy! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
OMG these are SO delicious! My folding technique needs some work, but my whole family devoured them. Directions were perfect. Thank you! Adding these to the rotation.
That’s so terrific to hear Dale! Thank you for letting me know – N xx
I love Gyoza. I get them at my favorite restaurant all the time, but the ones I usually get are the vegetable ones. If I wanted to make these without the pork, what other vegetables should go inside?
Hi Amanda! Wilted spinach, finely chopped rehydrated mushrooms are terrific because they are “wet” so they will make it easier to make the dumplings. 🙂
Loved the Gyoza’s. But you forgot to tell us how good they are and that you need to make twice as many so as the cook [me] gets to eat some also! Our kids ate them as fast as i could cook them! I substituted different ingredients with what i had and can’t wait to make more. Our kids loved them and so did we – for something that i thought would be tricky they really were quite simple. Thanks for great recipes!
Ba ha ha! I LOVE THAT!
Thanks, Nagi for bringing back a happy memory of my time in Japan. We would hit the ramen shops after work and, just like you, we would have gyoza and a steaming bowl of ramen. I can’t wait to try your mom’s recipe.
Can’t beat a big steaming bowl of ramen!!
I know this sounds silly but do you cook the pork first before putting it into the wonton skin? I really want to make these right
No silly questions around here! Nope, use raw, there is a video if that helps! N x
Hi Nagi,
Do you have nutrition facts for the Gyoza? I am afraid to know, but need to ask! Thanks!
Hi Marianne, I’m sorry I don’t because of the wrappers. What part are you concerned about? It’s not overly oily or fatty!!
Good to know that it is not too fatty or oily! ; 0 )
I was wondering more about the filling. I think I can figure out the sauce from the bottled ingredients and I can also get information from the wrappers package. I will see if I can figure it out! Thanks!
If you go into some calorie tracking apps, like MyFitnessPal, you can input the recipe and it will give you a nutritional breakdown. It’s very easy, you can even copy and paste the URL into the app’s recipe page so that you don’t have to retype it.
Thanks for the tip DG! To be honest, I don’t use that one because I find there are some really weird inaccuracies. I ran it through Nutriionix which I find is more accurate and have embedded the table. 🙂 N xx
Do you have a recommendation for a substitute for Pork? My husband and I loved our trip to Tokyo and I would love to make these. Unfortunately, he can not eat pork. Have you used other types of meat with this recipe? It looks amazing!
Gosh yes I use chicken all the time! So pleased to hear you enjoyed your time in Tokyo – N xx
We invited our Japanese friends for dinner tonight. I made several dishes using your recipes (butter chicken, gyoza, flat breads & dinner rolls). The comments are really good, they love them all, even they took the left over home. Thank you so much!!
So fantastic to hear that Helen, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I made your gyoza tonight. Soooo delicious. Made me think of our recent holiday in Japan. Thank you so much.
WHOOT! I’m so pleased to hear that Lynn, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
I dearly miss my mom’s gyoza. She used to make a big batch as an entree with steaming rice. Your mom’s recipe is nearly identical to my mother’s. I’ve made them in the past but now makes me want to make some again‼️ 😋
I LOVE HEARING THAT Janie! In all honesty, even in Japan, everyone in our family always says “these aren’t as good as mum’s”. 🙂 I think it’s because with homemade, we use more meat. It just makes it so much nicer!!!
Made these with the help of my little niece, who is 5 and loved crimping and folding them.
I was too lazy to drive to the Asian grocery store, and went to the local Kroger instead.
Because of this, I used the green onion + an extra clove of garlic substitute for the flat garlic chives, and purchased the square wonton wrappers and cut them into circles, since they didn’t have the round dumpling skin ones.
The substitution results in a very pungent and pronounced garlicness that is strong compared with milder garlic chives. You will love it if you’re of the “the more garlic, the better!” school, but others may prefer to leave the garlic at one clove total if making the substitution.
I do not recommend using the square wonton wrappers as a substitute. They are so thin that the bottoms easily rip right off, even in a generously-oiled, non-stick pan. After two tries and two bumless batches from a pan that has never failed me with store bought gyoza, we resorted to boiling the remaining and serving them in soup, which was delicious. Bottom line: it is worth the extra effort to find the correct wrappers if you want to pan fry them.
They froze beautifully.
I believe I will give this recipe another go once I find all of the correct ingredients; it seems like the type of recipe that’s fun to spend a lifetime tweaking into a personal fit in the quest to find the “perfect” dumpling.
I love hearing that you made this with your niece! I do hope you give it another go with the right wrappers – N x
Hi I can’t eat pork or seafood, can I make this with ground beef or ground chicken ?
Ground chicken would be a fantastic sub!
These look great but to clarify, do I purchase bok choy, napa cabbage or just a head of generic cabbage?
I tried this with ground chicken and shrimp and it was okay but the seasoning was perfect. I will try this again with just ground chicken and I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’ve never tried this with shrimp! So pleased you enjoyed the flavour! N xx
Hi Nagi!
Just made these tonight – very first time making any gyoza and WOW! these were amazing!!! such a simple and easy recipe to follow (down to folding the wrappers) and they tasted so wonderful! made them for a party and could not keep up with demand! Thank you so much for the recipe – so glad to have found your site and cant wait to try your other recipes!
That’s wonderful to hear Gillian! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
ANOTHER amazing recipe , thankyou Nagi , I have converted all of my friends onto your site , all we talk about is
cooking & food 🙂
Aww I LOVE hearing that! Sounds like gatherings wiht MY family and friends!!