Golden pan fried dumpling (Gyoza)

As promised, I have made my first set of Gyoza following the visit of "Harajuku Gyoza" and decided to share the experience with all of you ^^


Ingredients:
1/4 Cabbage
1 spring onion
250g pork minces
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
About 25-40 dumpling skin (can be purchased from Asian grocery - see image below, or made from scratch)
1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil

For the mixture:
Grated garlic..........1/2 tablespoon
Salt...........1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Sesame oil..........1 tablespoon
Oyster oil..........1/2 tablespoon

For the crispy skin (This is the key point if you like it crispy):
Water..........100cc
Flour..........2 teaspoon

*Recommend to do this step just before you need to use it

Serving:
25-40 dumplings (depending on how much fillings you use for each)

Level:
Easy

1. Chop up the cabbage (optional: you can mix in some salt), wash and then squeeze them dry.
2. Chop up the spring onion and mix with the cabbage.
3. Squeeze the pork minces a bit with your hands and then combines with the cabbage, spring onion and the mixture (from ingredients).
4. Now here's the fun part, let's start making some dumplings!!! You can watch this short clip below that I've made for a simple tutorial.
(make sure you don't put too much filling in each one ^^")




Did you enjoy that??? Repeat the process and look how many wonderful dumplings you can make!

Ta-Da! They are all ready to go!

5. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, and pan fry the dumplings until the bottoms are turning gold. (I like to cook in sets of 8 or 10)

It's gold!!!!

6. Now do the mixture for the crispy skin (from ingredients) and pour it into the pan. Then put the lid on immediately and leave it for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

7. After 5 minutes, open the lid and put a few drops of sesame oil, then wait until all the liquid evaporates.

8. It's done! Ready to serve!! Oh, don't forget your sauces!! I've used Soy sauce, Vinegar and Chilli oil here.

This is a really simple recipe and yet tastes really good as an appetizer/entrée dish. When you finish the dish, the bottom should be quite hard and it will make a loud crackling sound when you bite into them...Mmmmm...


Thanks for reading and enjoy the dish!! Also, any comments or suggestions are welcomed ^^

Harajuku Gyoza

Hope everyone had a fantastic New Year's Eve! It is 2014 now, can you believe it???

On this particular night (still in 2013 ><), me and Bun walked pass this restaurant called "Harajuku Gyoza" at Potts Point. What comes into your mind when you thought of "Harajuku" (a place in Tokyo)? The first thing come up to my mind is fun, a place that's full of creativity and vibrant culture, and somewhere with loads of unique surprises. So when we saw this huge Kawaii ("cute" in Japanese) dumpling character on its exterior wall, we thought it would be cool to check it out!

The restaurant is actually in "Izakaya" style (a casual Japanese place for after-work drinking, usually attended by businessmen), with a bunch of bar chairs surrounding the centre (cooking area) and a few tables scattered around the room. The whole restaurant was mainly decorated in black and red colours, giving that modern and mysterious feeling. The staffs were very friendly and attentive (notice the kitchen staff doing the "peace sign" in the last picture? LOL), and the food actually came pretty quick.

We found those photos printed on the plates :)

Here are the sauces of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil. I prefer to use these separately although you should combine all 3 together to get the best flavour.

Pork Belly Kakuni $13.00

This is one of their popular dishes, and it came in 4 chunky pieces on the plate. Our first impression of this dish was...SO JUICY! It was absolutely fulfilling. We loved how the fat took up half or more of the proportion, yet the whole bite didn't feel too oily at all. It was a really good dish to accompany a bottle of beer too!

Pork Gyoza (poached) 5pcs $8.00

Since we were getting the Lobster Tail Gyoza as grilled, we decided to pick a poached set of Gyoza. This little dish of Pork Gyoza certainly allowed us to enjoy and appreciate the ultimate combination of the sauces. Personally, my favourite is still the chilli oil ^^

Lobster Tail Gyoza $12.00

The name attracted our attention, as we were curious of what it would taste like. We found the lobster tail was a little bit light in terms of flavours, although it was nice and chewy. To us, we probably still preferred Gyoza with whole loads of meat + vegetable inside, so we actually liked the pork Gyoza more than this one.


This will be a pretty cool place to hang out after work for drinks, or for those who don't have too much time and just wants to fill the stomach in a rapid speed. I loved how they can incorporate such a cute dumpling character to be the logo of the restaurant and how creative their Gyozas were. For a personal comment: I think the grilled Gyoza always tasted more interesting than the poached version!


PS: For our next post, I will write about my first home-made Gyoza with recipe (Yes, thanks to the inspirations from Harajuku Gyoza!!!) ^^


Address:
9-15 Bayswater Road, Potts Point NSW 2011

Phone number:
02 9356 3834

Opening time:
7 days - midday to late for lunch and dinner


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How to make Spicy chicken (Korean style)

Firstly, hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! :D I love cooking so today I decide to share another 1 of my simple recipes!


Bun always loved Korean food, and especially chilli food. So I decided to make a simple homemade version of Korean spicy chicken, served with rice and a bottle of beer for Bun to enjoy.


Ingredients:
600g chicken thigh
Milk (an amount that covers the chicken thigh)
Potato starch (enough for the chicken thigh)

For marination:
Soy sauce..........1 tablespoon
White/cooking wine..........1 tablespoon
Grated garlic..........1 teaspoon

For the sauce:
Chopped garlic..........1 teaspoon
Chopped onion..........1 tablespoon
Tomato sauce..........2 tablespoon
Korean spicy sauce (BekSul)..........2 tablespoon (or more if you prefer more chilli)
Soy sauce..........1 teaspoon
Sugar..........1 tablespoon
Sesame oil..........1 teaspoon
Water..........60ml

(The Korean spicy sauce and potato starch can be found in Asian grocery stores.)

(Chopped onion and garlic and the sauce in separate bowls)

Serving:
1-2 people


Level:
Easy

1. Wash the chicken thigh and soak it with milk for about 20 minutes, this helps to get rid of any smell from frozen chicken and makes the meat tenderer.

2. Wash the chicken again, drain the water and chop into desirable sizes. Then marinate them for at least 30 minutes.

3. Roll each of the marinated chicken onto the potato starch evenly, and then leave them aside for about 3-5 minutes.

4. Start deep frying the chicken in the oil pan (set on 180 degrees) until golden, then leave aside to drain the excessive oil.

 

5. Get a large pan and stir fry the chopped onions and garlic until aromatic. Then put in the sauce and chicken and stir them to ensure the sauce is evenly distributed over the chicken.

TA-DA! It's ready to be served with rice!

You can probably try to add in pieces of pineapples or sprinkle some white sesame over the top, as these will make the chicken tastier!


I am still a beginner (total noob actually ^^") and seeking for many ways to improve on my dishes, so feel free to drop me any comments on suggestions :D Have fun cooking and eating!!!