Exotic Gyoza

aka plain old Chinese dumplings/potstickers (gyoza in Japanese)..

This was the Daring cooks challenge for the month of June and my first Daring Kitchen entry ! You are given a challenge on 1st of the month by a member , along with the recipe and you need to keep it a top secret till the release date i.e 14th ! There is a forum for members though where we can share questions, suggestions and also post our trials ..I feel like I belong to those super secret clubs...unravelling mysteries....yeah...delicious culinary mysteries here ;)

Jen asked/ordered us to make Chinese dumplings, alright no biggie...but .....with home made wrappers..that was the real challenge...I have tried dumplings before , but with those wrappers available in super markets and Ive found it a real chore to shape,mould and stick those dry wrappers....but no worries now...I dont need no pre-made wrappers now !! The one in the recipe came out to be so perfect and so easy that I will never, ever get those store brought pale replacements anymore.....

Also, Ive only tried making steamed dumplings before as I try to stay away from deep-frying...but apparently there is a delicious compromise between steaming and deep -frying which makes these amazing pot-stickers ! I fell in love with that name itself..how obvious and how delicious :))

The recipe for 

dough:

1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (113g) warm water

flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:

2 parts soy sauce

1 part vinegar (red wine or black)

a few drops of sesame oil

chili garlic paste (optional)

minced ginger (optional)

minced garlic (optional)

minced green onion (optional)

sugar (optional)

Make the dough: In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

The filling was upto our choice , and I made one with green onions, tofu, carrot , mushroom and another with potatoes which is like the samosa filling. Both turned out to be great and I declare my 1st daring cooks challenge to be a resounding sucess :)