Okonomiyaki Pancake-style Gyoza


There are some things in life that just can't wait, like these beautifully charred pork dumplings (or gyozas) topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, spring onions and bonito flakes. I was getting my regular TV fix of Destination Flavour Japan last week, and as I watched Adam Liaw flip over a pan of crisp charred dumplings onto a plate, I couldn't help but imagine how tasty those gyozas would be if I could just have a bite. Gyozas are similar to Chinese potstickers (guotie), though their Chinese counterparts usually have thicker skins and are slightly bigger. Both are usually served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce, sometimes with chilli oil and shredded ginger too.

By the way, check out these dancing bonito flakes below!


I've never made gyoza wrappers from scratch before, though they are really good because you can roll them out thinly and they get nice and crisp after frying. If you can't spare the time to make them, store-bought wrappers work fine too. In the show, Adam used Otafuku sauce, which is a popular brand of Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) sauce. I decided to make my own sauce from scratch based on my Modanyaki recipe post.

 
These pancake-style gyozas are fantastic, especially with the tangy okonomiyaki sauce and the creamy mayonnaise. The best part are the burnt black bottoms of the dumplings, which gives it the extra oomph! Seriously. The addition of the potato starch solution during the last part of cooking gives the gyozas the wafer-thin crispy "wings" on the edges. A word of advice: please use a good non-stick pan, and by that I mean one that still has the non-stick coating over it. The pan I used was really old and worn, and so some of the dumplings got stuck to the surface, which made it tricky to pry them off without tearing the delicate skins. Nevertheless, I manage to salvage most of them to a reasonable extent. Most importantly, they tasted good!

I'm looking forward to making these again. Miss H was only too happy to help with rolling out the dumpling skins. Next time, I might teach her how to pleat them, neatly. And in a few more years, I'll be able to sit back and supervise her in the kitchen! Patience. Do try your hand at making these gyozas. It's fun to serve them okonomiyaki-style (we love Japanese mayo!).  They are equally delicious when simply served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce.

Click here to continue to the Gyoza Recipe plus more photos! >>
 
Charred - mission complete!
 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best Ever Italian Almond Cookies

Image
These are the BEST EVER, absolutely moreish and delicious Sicilian almond cookies you'll ever taste. With a thin and crispy crust outside, and amazingly soft and chewy inside, it's quite impossible to stop at one. The secret is to use roasted almond meal, which gives it a rich nutty and almost caramel-like flavour. Continue reading for the recipe. Italian Almond Cookies Adapted from Good Food Ingredients 250g roasted almond meal 3 egg whites, beaten until stiff 150g white sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1/2 tsp almond essence Icing sugar, to coat biscuits Flaked almonds Method Using your hands or a large spoon, mix all ingredients (except icing sugar) together in a bowl and rest for 1/2 an hour. Preheat oven to 180C. Make small balls of about 3 cm by rolling them between your palms, then lightly roll them in the icing sugar. If the mixture is too soft, that's okay. Just drop spoonfuls of the mixture in the icing sugar and gently roll them until covered all over with sugar. ...
Read more

Thai Roast Duck Salad

Image
  So, I googled " game meat " and according to Wikipedia, " Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport".  I never knew that duck was considered game until someone told me that it is not commonly served or eaten in the United States for that very reason. Well, it makes sense now that I recall seeing duck hunting on TV (specifically the old Looney Tunes cartoons featuring Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck - rings a bell?). Maybe because I've grown up eating a lot of Chinese roast duck (and Peking duck during special occasions), and so I can't say that it tastes gamey at all. Or maybe duck just tastes best when it's roasted until the fat has rendered and the skin's gone all thin and crispy. The only thing I don't like about duck is that it's really boney and fatty. If you buy half a roast duck, you'd end up with half of it being bones and fat. The meat and skin however is very tasty. ...
Read more

Polish Plum Cake (with olive oil)

Image
It's been a long long while since my last post. Summer has been super hot these last few days and we've been staying indoors (although the air-conditioning didn't work too well in these extreme conditions). It didn't help that I decided to bake  yesterday afternoon knowing that it was already as hot as an oven outside! So, ever since i tried the Polish plum cake from Monarch Cakes at St Kilda a couple of years ago, I've been wanting to bake something similar though I never settled on which recipe to use (there are a few on the internet, where they differ in terms of whether butter or oil is used, and some are yeast-based (which is apparently the traditional Polish version). With plums being in season right now, I decided it was time I made the attempt to bake a light, airy, sponge-like cake studded with tart plums that have caramaelized to a jammy consistency. Well, at least that's how I remembered it. Ready for tea with a dusting of icing sugar Although using b...
Read more