This may be my absolute favorite recipe on this entire page.

Making dumplings like this is NOT HARD. It CAN be a time consuming exercise for one person, due to the prep time involved. If you want to make a lot, I suggest making it a family event and getting an asembly line going.

Originally this recipe came from Tasty, and is called Rie’s Gyoza there. This is one recipe where I really didn't modify anything, it is perfect, as far as I can tell. In my copy here, I have clarified the instructions a little bit and made some additional personal notes.

Note 1: The ingredients call for 1 pound of ground pork. If you want variety, or don't eat pork, you can sub ground chicken no problem. In fact, once you mix all non-meat ingredients, you can split into two bowls and add 1/2 pound of pork to one bowl and 1/2 pound of chicken to the other - works just fine.

Note 2: My favorite way to do this is make a medium (10") skillet worth, and put on a plate, and eat as many as I can. It uses about 16 dumplings or so. Therefore this recipe will make about 4 of those. For those making an appetizer, just make as many as you want.

Ingredients - Dumplings

1 lb ground pork or chicken
2 cups green cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup nira chives, finely chopped [see note below]
½ cup shiitake mushroom, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sake [see note below]
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

80 gyoza wrappers [see note below]

For Each Medium Pan of Dumplings
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 /4 cup water
3/4 tablespoon flour

Ingredients - Dipping Sauce

dipping sauce, optional
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar [see note below]
2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoon mirin [see note below]

Instructions

Note 3: For this recipe, if you haven't made it before, pictures and video come in handy. Go spend 2 minutes watching it, so you will see what to expect in terms of how things look throughout the process. It is here: Rie's Gyoza Video

In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, cabbage, nira chives, shiitake, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sake, salt, and black pepper. Mix well with your hands.

Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle of a dumpling wrapper. Using your finger, lightly wet the half of the outer rim with water. Fold the wrapper in half. Using your fingertips, make pleats to seal the dumpling. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

In a medium (10") nonstick frying pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the 18-20 dumplings in a circle, and put a couple in the middle once the circle is made. Fry for 1-3 minutes. Tip: anyone who has cooked knows that the oil doesn't evenly spread out when only a spoonful is used. Let it pool where it wants to, but when adding dumplings run the bottom across this pool to make sure each dumpling gets some on the bottom.

Combine the flour and the water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour into the pan and cover. Steam the dumplings until the water is mostly evaporated, about 5 minutes or so. Remove the lid and continue cooking until the water is completely evaporated.

Shake the skillet firmly to loosen the gyoza. Because of the flour/water mix, a nice thin "crust" has formed, so you want to see the entire batch moving as a single unit. You might need to use a spoon or something to unstick a couple, but I have never had to.

Pick up the skillet and place a plate on top of it, upside down. Flip the pan upside down while pressing the plate to invert the dumplings. Remove the skillet and you should see the golden brown crust facing up. Grab your chopsticks and separate one gyoza from the whole (they come apart magically easy), and pop it in your mouth. Try another one with the dipping sauce.

Cook the remaining dumplings. Serve with dipping sauce.

Note 4: Folding the dumplings / making pleats. The first one you do will be a disaster. Go re-watch the video. The second one will also be a disaster. From there you should start feeling more comfirtable. By about the 8th one, you will be a pro. Keep the back half static, and move the front half only. Pinch after every pleat and check before putting it on the plate. If it looks like it is coming open, pinch again.

Note 5: Nira Chives. These are not your usual chives. These are Nira chives which are common in Asian stores. You'll find them in produce, wrapped in cling-wrap. There are two varieties of nira chives you will see in the store. Flowered - and No Flower. They are easy to distinguish, the flower ones have little buds peeking out. The non-flower ones do not. Use the non-flowering kind.

Note 6: The sake. I do drink sake so will occasionally treat myself to a decent sake and just use a bit of that. If I don't plan on drinking sake, then I use some cheaper stuff. Best way to do this is go to a big box liquor store and they sell little cans of it. Pop a can, use what you need, drink the rest - or not, up to you.

Note 7: The Mirin. It's beyond the scope of this recipe to go too far into the subtle differences between Hon-mirin and Aji-mirin. Your big box stores will sell Aji-mirin, and it's fine for you to use. However, if you really want to impress Japanese colleagues, make sure to use Hon-mirin which can be obtained from Asian markets. Basically, Hon-mirin is actual mirin, with no additives, and a high alcohol content. Aji-mirin is a developed product, made to taste like actual mirin.