The Best Veggie Gyoza

Why make your own gyoza, when Trader Joe's sells bags of them for just a few bucks? 

Try them, and you will never again accept lousy store-bought substitutes. These are 1,000x better, and truly easy to make. I know I say that about some things, and people stare at me like "you're a freaking trained chef", but really, your kids could make these. 

If you really needed to, you could probably get all the ingredients at Safeway. 

The filling is super basic:

napa cabbage, 1 medium

carrots, 2 medium 

fresh shiitake mushrooms, 8oz. (crimini will do in a pinch, but don't have nearly as good a flavor)

green onion 

The wrappers are relatively interchangeable. You want a very thin, square or round fresh wheat-based Asian wrapper. Most grocery stores (in the Bay Area anyway) now carry at least one type of wrapper in the fresh/fridge case (try near the produce section at Safeway). Whole Foods has more than one kind (they have a cold case near the eggs with Asian noodles, etc.), and Asian specialty stores will have a bigger selection. If you like to cook Asian meals, I recommend going to an Asian specialty store and stocking up on some condiments. Fun! A basic traditional dipping sauce for these would be equal parts of soy sauce and rice vinegar. I always thin that out with some water (even if I start with reduced-sodium soy sauce). No one needs that much sodium, and you won't know the difference. 

Prep the Filling

Shiitake mushrooms have thick, meaty caps, and tougher stems. I generally use just the caps, and dry or freeze the stems for another use (like fortifying broths). Contrary to popular belief, you should always rinse mushrooms before using. They grow in the ground, you know. Just run them under some cool water, and use your fingers to gently rub off any dirt. Shiitake are very sturdy, and can take the abuse. Slice the caps in half across their width, then stack them back together like a hamburger; then slice thin slices. This way you'll have thinner strips, and more of them dispersed in your filling.

Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbage. Slice the cabbage in half lengthwise. Use a knife to slice very thin shreds down to the base (like you're shredding cabbage for coleslaw). 

Wash, peel and grate the carrots. 

Rinse and thinly slice two green onions. 

Heat a large skillet (I use a 12" for this) on med-high. Add 2T olive oil. Add the mushrooms, and saute for 3-4 minutes, until brown. Remove from the pan. Add the carrots, and saute for a few minutes until they're heated through and dry. Add the cabbage. Saute for just a few minutes until the cabbage wilts down. Remember, this filling will cook again when you cook the gyoza, so better to leave the veggies tender for now so they don't end up mushy. Stir in the green onion and mushrooms, and dump the filling into a large bowl to cool. Stir it occasionally to help steam escape so it cools faster. 

Assembly

Set out some baking sheets or large trays. Pour a little cold water into a small bowl (you'll use this to seal the wrapper). Put one some good music, or Mad Men, or whatever, and start wrapping. 

Using a fork, fill each wrapper with enough filling to cover about 1/4-1/3 of its area, leaving the edges free. Dip your finger in the water, and rub it around the edge of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half like a taco, and pinch the seam together firmly, going back over it a couple of times. Set the gyoza on the sheet, and keep that factory cranking. 

These are round wrappers. You can crimp the edge for a fancy effect.
With square wrappers, you can just seal them in half.

If you're going to eat tonight, wipe out the pan you used for the veggies, and heat it to medium. Add 1T olive oil and 1t toasted sesame oil (optional, but DO IT). When the oil is hot, place the gyoza seam-side up in a spiral formation, so they help each other stand up (and you can also get more in the pan that way). Brown the bottoms, then add about 1/2C water to the pan, cover, and reduce the heat to low. When all the water is evaporated, remove the lid, turn up the heat for a minute until they sizzle. Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce.

Freeze remaining gyoza on the sheet pan, then once frozen, transfer to a ziploc bag, and store for up to 3 months. 

いただきます！

Easy Restaurant *Homemade* Ramen

On days like today - ok, any day that isn't hot - I want ramen. I've tried (so far unsuccessfully) to make my own noodles, but thanks to Nona Lim (made in Oakland!), I can now create a bowl of excellent ramen at home with very little effort, AND FOR ABOUT $4. 

How is this magic possible?? This may seem like a lot of steps, but it's pretty basic. Make the eggs the night before, and when you get home, all you need to do is heat the broth, cook the noodles, assemble and garnish. You can eat in 20 minutes. 

You must, at all times, have the following ingredients in your home:

A box (or two) of Nona Lim Tokyo Ramen
A box (or four) of Trader Joe's Miso Ginger Broth
Eggs
Fresh Corn (but if you must, Del Monte canned No-Salt Added Corn will do)
Mirin
Soy Sauce or Tamari
Green Onion
Ginger

Whole Foods and Rainbow Coop Carry These

Trader Joe's Miso Ginger Vegan Broth

Eggs Marinated in Mirin and Soy Sauce 

These are the fundamentals for how I like basic ramen, but feel free to branch out and add whatever you like. 

First, let's marinate some eggs. 

This blog has simple instructions. I like an 8 minute simmer for a yolk that's creamy. Don't leave eggs in the ice bath more than 5 minutes or the whites can get tough. Peel the eggs carefully, because the eggs are soft boiled, and can tear easily. I recommend 24 hours in the marinade, and up to 2 days is ok. 

Assembling Your Ramen

The ramen comes in tidy individual serving packets (2 to a box). 
Here are instructions for two:
Boil a large pot of water. 
In a smaller pot, heat up the broth (one full box for 2 people). Add kernels from one ear of corn. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. 
Take two eggs out of the fridge. Thinly sliced some green onion and set aside. Peel a piece of ginger (you'll grate it right over the bowl before serving). 
Once the large pot comes to a raging boil, scoop out some of the water and add it to your serving bowls to warm them up. 
Add the ramen to the pot. I prefer to cook them one at a time so they don't clump. They cook in about 3-4 minutes, so this is doable. Use tongs and a sieve to scoop out the cooked ramen. Pour out the water from your serving bowl, and add the noodles to the warm bowl. 
Gently pour half the broth over the ramen. Add half the corn to the bowl. Slice an egg in half and gently place it on the mound of noodles (you don't want it to drown). Repeat with the other bowl. Sprinkle both bowls with green onions, and grate lots of fresh ginger with a microplane. 

Serve immediately with chop sticks and spoon.

           いただきます

Chinese Pearl Balls

I fell in love with these as a kid. In the late 70's & early 80's, there was a surge in popularity of gourmet cooking & entertaining. Most days, we ate very simply, but during the holidays, my Mom & aunts would bust out the Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart cookbooks, and make morsels of goodness that cemented my love for experimenting with flavors & textures in my own cooking. 

Aside from being irresistibly delicious, these are gluten-free, very easy to prepare, and can be made ahead and frozen, so when company arrives, all you need to do is steam and serve. 

Ingredients
3/4C glutenous rice or sticky rice (does not contain gluten) 
1# ground pork
1 green onion, minced
2t freshly grated ginger
4 water chestnuts, finely minced
1T soy sauce
1T dry sherry (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2t corn starch 
S&P

Dipping sauces can vary to taste. I usually put out several options:
Plum Sauce
Hoisin Sauce
Soy sauce with rice vinegar and chili oil
Sweet chili sauce
Sriracha 

Instructions
Soak the glutinous rice in water for at least 6 - 8 hours (preferably overnight). Drain well in a sieve or colander. Spread out the rice on a baking sheet. Note: Drain and spread out the rice just before making the pearl balls, so that the rice doesn't dry out too much.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well to incorporate all the goodies. 

Lay out a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment. Using a small ice cream scoop, a teaspoon, or your hands (keep hands wet for easier handling), make large gumball-sized balls (about 1T), and drop them onto the sheet with the rice. Roll the balls in the rice to coat evenly, and transfer to the tray with the parchment. Space them out so they're not touching. At this point the balls can be frozen for future use (freeze on the sheet pan, then transfer to ziploc bags, being careful not to lose too much rice). 

Steam the balls in batches using bamboo steamers or steamer baskets. Lightly oil the steamers to prevent sticking. Steam for about 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately. 

на здоровья!