Gyoza
A classic in Chinese cuisine (锅贴) and Japanese cuisine. The crispy wings look complicated but are surprisingly easy to make, especially if you already have frozen dumplings. Frozen dumplings work pretty much as well, if not better than fresh dumplings for this. The textural contrast with the crispy bits is heavenly. If you're lazy and don't want to deal with the wings, this preparation works just as well with just dumplings, oil, and water -- omit making the slurry altogether.
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 15 min
Ingredients
> frozen dumplings (~6-15, depending on the size of your pan and the dumplings)
> dipping sauce: soy sauce, Chinese vinegar, sesame oil
> garnish: green onion, Japanese chili pepper
> slurry: water (1/4 cup), flour (1 tsp), corn starch (2 tsp)
> neutral oil
Instructions
1. In a pan over medium to medium heat, fry dumplings with a little oil for a couple minutes, or until it begins to lightly brown.
2. Make the slurry by mixing together water, flour, and corn starch. Add the slurry to the pan and cover, taking care not to pour any slurry directly on top of a dumpling.
3. Let steam for ~5-8 minutes, depending on the dumplings, or until fully cooked. At this point, the water should have completely evaporated and left a crispy "wing" around the gyoza.
4. Carefully invert onto the serving plate. Top with green onion and Japanese chili pepper. Serve with a dipping sauce: equal parts soy sauce and Chinese vinegar.
Notes/Tips:
> Adjust the amount of slurry based on the size of your pan and number of dumplings. The proposed ingredient amounts will probably work well for a pan that fits ~10 smallish dumplings or so.
> Use any kind of frozen dumpling you want, as long as they have a flat bottom. Of course, freshly prepared dumplings will also work here. But using freshly prepared dumplings for this feels like a bit of a waste -- they're much better just boiled or steamed to take maximum advantage of their chewy wrappers.