I have long been obsessed with gyozas, these tasty little Japanese style dumplings are packed with flavour. Be generous with seasoning and serve with a punchy dip and pickles. I like to make my own chilli oil with a generous dose of gocujang (fermented soy bean).
Warning - do not assemble day ahead unless you plan on freezing them!
Makes about 15
For the gyoza skins
- 50g plain white flour, plus extra for rolling
- 50g strong bread flour
- Pinch of sea salt
- 50ml boiling water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Pheasant and Wild Garlic filling
- 150g pheasant breast roughly diced
- 100g wild garlic finely chopped
- 1 chestnut mushroom finely diced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 small celery stick finely diced
- 1 scant tsp sesame oil
- 1 half tbsp good quality soy sauce
- Shichimi (japanese 7 spice) to sprinkle
- Chilli oil
Method
To make the gyoza skin. Combine the flours, salt, sesame oil and water in a bowl, mix with a fork till resembles a crumble mixture. Bring together with your hands to make a dough and knead for 2 minutes. Wrap in cling film and set aside in the fridge till chilled.
When ready to use, knead the ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface for 1 more minute. Using a rolling pin, roll the mix out thinly (till almost transparent) and use a cutter to cut out 5cm circles.
For the filling, whizz the pheasant breasts up in a small food processor till finely minced.
In a small frying pan, gently fry the wild garlic for 1 minute with a drizzle of oil. Add to the pheasant mix along with the rest of the ingredients. Grind in some black pepper and mix well.
Brush each circle with a little oil, and place 1 tsp of pheasant mixture in the centre. Using your fingers gently bring in the edges together to form a little pasty like shape. Press the edges together and crimp to secure.
In a steamer, steam the gyoza for 3 minutes. Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, transfer the gyoza to the pan and fry the flat side for 2 minutes until nicely crisp.
Serve immediately with a sprinkle of shichimi and drizzle of chilli oil.
