These are good though, they’re really good.  Absolutely perfect actually.  Though the use of a food processor would garner a couple sighs and most definitely a frown. Nana has a great big wooden chopping bowl and a semicircular shaped knife that she would chop and mash the filling together with.  She even managed to get the bowl and knife through airport security.  But hey, nobody is going to stop an 80-year old grandma from making her dumplings.

And nobody ever should.

Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers)

Adapted from Nana

Makes about 75

½ Napa cabbage

1 big bunch (A generous 2 cups) fresh garlic chives

1 8 oz. can water chestnuts

1 ½ – 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon white sugar

2-4 tablespoons sesame oil

Morton’s Season Salt, kosher salt, and pepper to taste

Soy sauce to taste

2 tablespoons corn starch

¾ pound ground pork

½ pound lean ground beef

½ pound fresh or frozen shrimp

Circular Gyoza or wonton skins, about 75-100

1.  Wash and dry then roughly chop cabbage and garlic chives, and then add to a food processor.  Drain water chestnuts and grate ginger, adding to the cabbage and garlic chives.  Season to taste with sesame oil, seasoning salt, salt, pepper, and soy sauce.  Be conservative at this point, because you will test for seasoning later.  Process green mixture until relatively fine but not wholly liquid.  There will be a lot of water from the cabbage, but it is important in keeping the filling soft.  Transfer the green mixture to a large metal bowl and put aside.

2.  Without washing the food processor, add the pork, beef, shrimp, and cornstarch.  Process until smooth and combined.  Add about 2 cups of the green mixture and process until combine.  Transfer the meat to the large metal bowl and stir with the remaining green mixture until homogenous and smooth.  Filling should be stiff enough to support a wooden spoon vertically.  To test for seasoning, panfry a teaspoon of the filling in a little vegetable oil.  Adjust with the seasonings to taste.

3. Prepare a bowl of water.  To assemble gyoza, place a very generous rounded teaspoon in the center of one gyoza wrapper.  Dip a finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper, wetting the entire circumference.  Lift up two opposite ends of the wrapper and, keeping the filling center, pleat one side of the wrapper against the other, creating a seal.  Check over the edges to make sure the gyoza won’t open.  Repeat until all the filling is gone, layering the gyoza with wax paper.  At this point, the gyoza can be refrigerated for a couple hours before cooking, or cooked immediately.

4.  Bring a pot of water to a simmer.  To cook the gyoza, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan.  Filling the pan with as many gyoza as possible without any touching.  Brown the bottoms of the gyoza.  Once the bottoms are brown, ladle ½ – 1 cup of the simmering water around the edges of the frying pan, be extremely careful.  Make sure that there is enough water to rise about halfway up the gyoza.  Cover the pan and keep covered, steaming the gyoza until all the water has steamed away.  Remove to a plate and repeat until all the gyoza have been cooked.  Eat immediately or let come to room temperature and then freeze for up to three weeks, microwaving to reheat.  Serve with soy sauce or ponzu for dipping.