What are gyoza?

Gyoza (pronounced “gee-oh-zah”) are Japanese dumplings or small filled dough parcels. A thin, stretchy dough made from wheat flour is stuffed with a juicy meat and cabbage filling, seasoned with garlic, ginger and Chinese chives. Authentic dumplings are first pan-fried and then baked until they are just crispy.

The Japanese borrowed the idea for their dumplings from the Chinese, the inventors of the dumpling, called jiaozi in China. Japanese soldiers came into contact with the Chinese dough parcel during the occupation of Manchuria in the Second World War and copied it after coming home. The name, gyoza is simply “jiaozi”, pronounced in a Japanese way.

There are differences between Japanese gyoza and Chinese jiaozi. The Japanese dumplings are usually made with a prepackaged dough sheet that is thinner and smaller than the Chinese precursor. The Japanese filling is also usually a bit more delicate. The thin dough sheet ensures a crispy package. The filling often contains a lot of garlic, an ingredient that you rarely come across in Japanese cuisine, except in ramen.

The filling in its authentic form often consists of pork and cabbage, though there are plenty of exceptions to this rule. Beef and carrot, lamb with mint, shrimp with cream cheese or duck confit are all possible fillings. There are also vegetarian fillings. The most important thing is that the filling is relatively dry so that the dumplings do not get soggy when they are in the pan.