Hanetsuki Gyoza (Dumplings with “Wings”)

A batch of homemade gyoza bound with crispy, lacy “wings” is a memorable start to an at-home Japanese izakaya feast.

Serves
Makes 60 gyoza
Time
2 hours

AYA MISHIMA BRACKETT

By Sylvan Mishima Brackett

Published on April 3, 2024

Ingredients

For the wrappers:

4¼ cups plus 3 Tbsp. (525 g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. fine salt
Potato starch, for dusting

For the filling:

¾ lb. green cabbage, cored
¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. chicken stock
1 tsp. powdered gelatin
1¾ lb. ground pork
2 Tbsp. plus ¾ tsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. sake
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. sugar
1½ tsp. fine salt
5 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For cooking 12 gyoza:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1½ tsp. potato starch
½ tsp. all-purpose flour

For serving:

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Chile oil

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By Sylvan Mishima Brackett

Published on April 3, 2024

This recipe is brought to you by the SAVEUR Cookbook Club, our passionate community of food-loving readers from around the globe celebrating our favorite authors and recipes. Join us as we cook through a new book every month, and share your food pics and vids on social media with the hashtags #SAVEURCookbookClub and #EatTheWorld.

Gyoza is one of chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett’s all-time favorite foods—and one of the most beloved dishes at Rintaro, his San Francisco-based izakaya. From a young age, Brackett helped his mother Toshiko make gyoza at home, starting with filling and wetting the edges of each gyoza wrapper, then eventually graduating to pleating the gyoza closed as needed.

In this recipe, a gelatin-rich stock is used to bind well-seasoned ground pork and steamed cabbage, which is then stuffed into handmade wrappers before steaming. If you have a truly nonstick skillet at your disposal, Brackett includes the option of making crispy starch-based “wings” to bind the dumplings just before serving. But the dumplings will be just as good without this dramatic presentation.

Though some chefs might claim gyoza isn’t a true Japanese dish, it is one of those foods, alongside ramen, that has been thoroughly incorporated into many beloved izakayas across the country. At Rintaro, Brackett delegates the making of the restaurant’s dumplings to his gyoza “section chief” Tomoko Tokumaru, a chef from Fukuoka who has led a team of Japanese women in perfecting Toshiko’s recipe—and turning out nearly a quarter of a million gyoza in the process.

This recipe walks through all of the steps for preparing gyoza, from making the wrappers and filling from scratch to assembling them into way more dumplings than you could eat in one sitting. Luckily these dumplings freeze very well: shape all the dumplings, then line them on a rimmed baking sheet lightly dusted with potato starch, taking care not to let them touch. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. Once frozen solid, transfer them to airtight containers or freezer storage bags. They will keep, frozen, for up to 1 month.

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Adapted with permission from Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California by Sylvan Mishima Brackett with Jessica Battilana. Published by ‎Hardie Grant Publishing, October 2023.

Featured in “This Cookbook Will Help You Create Your Own Japanese Izakaya Experience” by Jessica Carbone.

Ingredients

For the wrappers:

4¼ cups plus 3 Tbsp. (525 g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. fine salt
Potato starch, for dusting

For the filling:

¾ lb. green cabbage, cored
¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. chicken stock
1 tsp. powdered gelatin
1¾ lb. ground pork
2 Tbsp. plus ¾ tsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. sake
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. sugar
1½ tsp. fine salt
5 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For cooking 12 gyoza:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1½ tsp. potato starch
½ tsp. all-purpose flour

For serving:

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Chile oil

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Instructions

Step 1

Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the flour, sesame oil, salt, and 1 cup of warm water on low speed until a dough forms. Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (If the dough isn’t coming together, add more water as necessary, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should be hydrated but still dry to the touch.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step 2

Make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cabbage and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle. Finely chop the cabbage, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel, and squeeze over the sink to remove as much water as possible. Set aside.

Step 3

To a small bowl, add the chicken stock and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside until the gelatin has dissolved and the mixture is firm and jiggly, about 15 minutes.

Step 4

In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together the pork, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and reserved chicken stock. Stir in the scallions, garlic, ginger, black pepper, and reserved cabbage. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 5

Meanwhile, make the wrappers: Divide the reserved dough into four equal pieces. Using your hands, roll each piece into a 1-inch-thick log. Cut the logs into 15–20 coin-sized pieces (about ⅓ oz. each). Place your thumbs side by side and flatten each coin into a disk, then dust lightly with potato starch. Using a small rolling pin, roll each disk into a 3-inch round. (Alternatively, using a hand-crank pasta machine, pass each disk of dough through the rollers twice to create a 3-inch round.) Cover the dough and finished wrappers with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out between batches.

Step 6

Form the gyoza: Working with one wrapper at a time, add 1 teaspoon (or up to 1 tablespoon) of filling to the center of each wrapper and spread it into a disk, leaving a ¼-inch border. Using a finger dipped in water, moisten the outer edge of the wrapper. Fold the dumpling in half like a taco (but don’t press together to seal) and hold in your dominant hand. Using the thumb and index fingers of your dominant hand, pinch the edge closest to you to seal. Then use the thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand to pleat one edge of the dough, enclosing the filling without squeezing any out. Continue crimping the seam until you reach the end, making about five pleats, squeezing out any excess air as you go. Set aside on a baking sheet and dust lightly with potato starch. (See headnote for gyoza storage instructions.)

Step 7

Cook a batch of 12 gyoza: To a 10-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add 12 gyoza in a pinwheel formation. In a small bowl, whisk together the potato starch, flour, and 1 cup of water, then pour the mixture over the gyoza. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until most of the water has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low, remove the lid, and continue cooking until the water has completely evaporated, about 2 minutes. Using a thin silicone spatula, carefully release the gyoza and “wings” from the skillet, then cover with a serving platter and invert to serve the gyoza crispy-side up. Repeat this process with the remaining gyoza, adding more oil and flour slurry for each batch.