Chilli Pork and Cashew Spring Vegetable Gyozas
Whether you prefer to call them dumplings, potstickers or gyozas, these bite-sized, utterly moreish morsels are loved worldwide as a perfect canvas for all sorts of ingredients. These will satisfy your hunger alright – the hard part is knowing when to stop! Traditionally enjoyed at Chinese new year, I figured anything that is celebrated for bringing good luck and fortune is worth investing in whenever those cravings strike. `These perfect pillows of versatility literally made my weekend! (I’m relying on the hope my readers can relate to this!) Instead of this time of year supplying us with the Spring goods (aka sunshine and general great alfresco vibes) winter descended on us and with it, a month’s worth of rain. Anyway, I won’t dwell, as my case in point is exactly that. These were the perfect things to make on a rainy afternoon - and much cheaper than therapy. Needless to say, the eating equally worked its magic!
Chilli Pork and Cashew, Tofu & Spring Vegetable Gyozas
The most common filling is pork and cabbage but as the shape of the gyoza is the main characteristic, in theory you really can put anything you like in them. I decided to go for two different varieties, both of equal delicious value and both with buckets of the WOW factor. I used vibrant spring vegetables as the base throughout (rude not to really with asparagus and pea season in full flow) which I combined with my favourite flavours of Asia - chilli, ginger, garlic, ginger, spring onion, toasted sesame oil and tamari. For those who prefer a more traditional approach, the chilli pork gyoza are the ones to go for, but I was delighted with how the vegan version with cashew and tofu absorbed all the incredible spice and umami flavours which can admittedly make them difficult to share. As it helps when the filling is quite dry, I always recommend placing the finished mixture in a sieve set over a bowl for at least 30 minutes before spooning into the gyoza. This allows any excess liquid to drain off. I serve both with a chilli-kicking sauce of Tamari, brown rice vinegar and nutty toasted sesame oil with (naturally) lots of fresh chilli too.
Chilli Pork and Spring Vegetable Gyoza
olive oil
200g pork mince
25g garden peas (if frozen, blanched)
25g asparagus, roughly chopped
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove
2cm ginger roughly chopped
1/2 stem of lemongrass roughly chopped, or 1 tsp lemongrass paste
a small handful roughly chopped coriander
1 tsp Tamari (I use Clearspring) - or you can use dark soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
30 ready-made gyoza/dumpling wrappers (you can buy these online or from Asian supermarkets) Dipping sauce
3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 tbsp tamari or dark soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 red chilli, chopped
To garnish, if you wish
1 finely sliced spring onion
a small handful chopped coriander
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1. Place the peas, asparagus, spring onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, Tamari, toasted sesame oil and coriander in a food processor and blitz for a few seconds, or until the ingredients have mixed together, albeit still a bit chunky. Pour into a bowl and mix in the pork mince and sesame seeds with a bit of seasoning.
2. Scoop a small teaspoonful of the filling into the centre of the each gyoza wrapper. Damp the edges with water then fold the wrapper over the filling, pleating the edges to seal.
3. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting. Heat the frying pan over a medium heat with a glug of oil, then add the dumplings (however many will fit in a single layer) bottoms-down and close together, but not touching. Cook over a medium heat until the bases are an even golden colour. Add the boiling water (gauge the amount depending on your pan size) and bring to a simmer before covering the pan with the lid. Steam for about 2-3 minutes until the wrappers are becoming fairly translucent. Uncover and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the water has evaporated and the bases are crunchy. Remove and keep warm in the low oven while you repeat with the remaining gyoza.Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a high heat. Place the gyoza in the pan and fry for 2 minutes or until the bottom is crisp. Reduce the heat and add 50ml water. Cover the pan and allow the gyoza to steam in the pan.
4. Garnish with spring onion, coriander and toasted sesame seeds and serve with the dipping sauce.
Cashew & Tofu Spring Vegetable Gyoza (vegan)
olive oil
100g tofu, roughly broken into pieces
50g salted cashews
25g garden peas (if frozen, blanched)
25g asparagus, roughly chopped
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove
2cm ginger roughly chopped
1/2 stem of lemongrass roughly chopped, or 1 tsp lemongrass paste
a small handful roughly chopped coriander
1 tsp Tamari (I use Clearspring) - or you can use dark soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
30 ready-made gyoza/dumpling wrappers (you can buy these online or from Asian supermarkets)Dipping sauce
3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 tbsp tamari or dark soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 red chilli, chopped
To garnish, if you wish
1 finely sliced spring onion
a small handful chopped coriander
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1. Place the tofu, cashews, peas, asparagus, spring onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, Tamari, toasted sesame oil and coriander in a food processor and blitz for a few seconds, or until the ingredients have mixed together, albeit still a bit chunky. Pour into a bowl and mix in the sesame seeds with a bit of seasoning.
2. Scoop a small teaspoonful of the filling into the centre of the each gyoza wrapper. Damp the edges with water then fold the wrapper over the filling, pleating the edges to seal.
3. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting. Heat the frying pan over a medium heat with a glug of oil, then add the dumplings (however many will fit in a single layer) bottoms-down and close together, but not touching. Cook over a medium heat until the bases are an even golden colour. Add the boiling water (gauge the amount depending on your pan size) and bring to a simmer before covering the pan with the lid. Steam for about 2-3 minutes until the wrappers are becoming fairly translucent. Uncover and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the water has evaporated and the bases are crunchy. Remove and keep warm in the low oven while you repeat with the remaining gyoza.Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a high heat. Place the gyoza in the pan and fry for 2 minutes or until the bottom is crisp. Reduce the heat and add 50ml water. Cover the pan and allow the gyoza to steam in the pan.
4. Garnish with spring onion, coriander and toasted sesame seeds and serve with the dipping sauce.
