Kimchi Gyoza/Dumplings

Lately, I have been brooding over what dishes will we be having for reunion dinner. Steamboat always has been the usual fanfare. I decided a change is needed for this upcoming reunion dinner. How about Gyoza/Dumplings instead of the boring steamboat?

Gyoza or Dumplings is one of the dishes that is commonly made during Chinese New Year. Chinese Dumplings normally made from mixture of minced pork, chives and spring onions. I decide to give it a korean twist this time - Kimchi Gyoza/Dumplings. This concept was given to me by a Korean Drama "Precious Family" that was screened in Channel U few months back. I decided to give it a try with my own rendition since not much information was given and it turn out quite good.



Kimchi Gyoza/Dumpling

1. Dumpling Skin 2 packet (available $1.90 at Sheng Siong)
2. Minced Pork 500g
3. Mat Kimchi 250g (available in alot of supermart, avoid local brand called Gana)
4. Pressed Tofu (not tau kwa or tau poh)
   
5. Egg
6. Corn Starch
7. Dry Chili Flakes (optional)
8. Ginseng Powder (optional)

For minced pork, it best not to get lean meat as you need retain certain amount fat when you frying the gyoza on a pan to retain the meat juiciness. First you need to buy Kimichi that is cut to smaller pieces, for this gyoza you to chop it up further so that it will mix well with mince meat. For 500g of mince meat, you need 250g of gyoza about 1 normal soup bowl. For a square piece of pressed tofu, you only need half of it.

First, mash the tofu into bits. After that, mix in the chopped kimchi into the mash tofu until it is blend well. Next add in the mince meat, you might want to use your hand this time (make sure you detox before you mix it) to ensure the kimichi gyoza filling is blend well. At this juncture, you can add in the 1 or 2 eggs, 3 teaspoons of corn starch and 2 tablespoon of light soya sauce to flavour and congeal the fillings. Knead the whole gyoza fillings until it blends well and it time to wrap the gyoza and do a taste test.

Normally, I will wrap 2 gyoza. One will be use for the pan fried another is for boiling in soup. After cooking this 2 gyoza, you ask someone to taste test it to see whether it is too salty or too bland. From there, you just adjust the soya sauce or kimichi consistency to your liking. After you finalized the exact flavour, it is time to wrap them up and pan fry them or cook them in broth. Make sure you finish up the whole gyoza mixture, as the mixture cannot be keep overnight as the meat composition will start to turn due to the lactic acid in kimchi.

For extra power, I add in 1 teaspoon of ginseng powder and korean chili flakes which even bring more flavour to this dish. For pan fried gyoza, make sure you got a non stick frying pan with a lid put in 1 tablespoon oil and ensure all areas of the pan is coated with oil then you line up all the gyoza in the pan and fired up the pan. Fried for about 10mins, you add half a cup of broth or water into the pan and cover it. Let it boil and steam cook the gyo for 15mins or so uncover the lid and let it boil until the broth/water evaporate. Then let it fry for another 10 mins to ensure the gyoza bottom is crisp then it is ready to serve.