For the last couple of days I was in such a funk. I slept most of the days doing absolutely nothing. And eating out a lot. I almost don't remember what I cooked last. *sigh* I so needed something to pull me out of there. And, if you know me, it had to be some food. So I decided to make something I've never done before. I decided to make dumplings-- gyoza dumplings to be exact.
Here's a thing about dumplings that really bothers me. They are usually made of pork. And I don't eat pork. I saw dumplings in restaurants, but never could try them because of the choice of meat. Even recipes call for ground pork. I got this recipe from
Just Hungry. But switched the meat to ground turkey. I also omitted the sesame oil, since I didn't have any on hand.
What do you need:
1/2 lb (250gm) ground turkey
3 stalks of green onions
6-8 napa cabbage leaves (you can use normal cabbage)
2 tsp grated ginger
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. dark sesame oil
70-74 round wonton wrapper (gyoza skin)
vegetable oil for frying
Making the filling:
(Since this is an adapted recipe, I'd suggest you go ahead and look at the
original recipe for a guide.)
Finely chop the cabbage. Put the chopped cabbage in a pot with lid with 1/4 cup of water. Turn the heat to high. Wait till it wilts (3-4 mins.). Drain through a sieve. Squeeze out most of the liquid.
Grate the ginger & garlic. Chop the green onion finely.
Mix everything (except the wrapper and oil for frying) together and let it sit for a while (around a hour).
Making the dumplings:
Tools needed:
a cup with water
the filling & a teaspoon
wonton wrappers (in a bowl covered with a damp kitchen towel)
a platter
Take a wrapper on your palm. Now take a teaspoon of the filling and put it in the middle. Don't overfill it though, it would be hard to close. Moist half of the edge of the wrapper. Now bring the two edges together and pinch them to close. Pinch firmly so the filling doean't come out. Keep going until the filling or wrapper runs out.
To fry the dumplings, take a non stick pan and put a little vegetable oil on it and heat it till really hot. Put the dumpling on the pan, flat side down. cook them on high heat for couple of minutes till it's crispy on the bottom. Now lower the heat to low.
Take 1/2 cup of water, and a lid for the pan. Pour the water into the pan and immediately put the lid on. Let the dumplings cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the tops looks sort of transparent and puffy. When the water is almost gone, turn the heat up to high to evaporate the rest. Carefully take the dumplings off the pan with a spatula and serve on a plate, crispy side up.
