While it’s starting to look a little like Spring during the day, the evenings still get soooo cold that comfort food – like these gyoza with smoky mushrooms – is still very much my go to at the moment. If you have been following me for a while, you probably know that I am a massive
fan of filled dumplings and Japanese gyoza or Chinese potstickers (they are very much alike) are one of my absolute favourites.

These meatless yet surprisingly meaty gyoza with smoky mushroom filling are delicious and not hard to make at all. While I used to make my own dumpling skins in the past – they
do require a bit of practice to get right – I rarely bother these days. As gyoza skins are widely available in my local Asian store, I tend to use them to expedite the process of making these little pockets of deliciousness and that’s what I would recommend unless you want to make these gluten-free, in which case you may want to make the skins yourself.

The filling for these naturally vegan gyoza in an umami rich medley of mushrooms, aromatics and some smoked tofu for extra meatiness and flavour. The filling comes together quickly as food processor minces most of the ingredients in seconds. The folding part is a fun and meditative pursuit and it’s a great thing to get fellow diners involved in too – make them earn their diner so to speak 😉 .

Finally steam-frying may seem daunting but it really is simple. It boils down (pun intended) to three steps – FRY – STEAM – FRY and all you need to do it well is a trusted old pan or a wok, a matching lid and a timer initially – later on you will get so good at it that you’ll start cooking these by feel. We love having these with a side of steamed tenderstem broccoli dressed in a simple soy sauce dressing and dusted with some crushed peanuts. I hope you will give these delicious gyoza a go.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

MUSHROOMS Mushrooms, alongside smoked tofu, make up most of the filling. I used two types of mushrooms, mostly chestnut mushrooms (also known as cremini), but I also added some fresh shiitake as they have deep umami flavour. You can replace chestnut mushrooms with plain white mushrooms and fresh shiitake with dried, rehydrated shiitake. You can also use other types of mushrooms instead.

SMOKED TOFU: Smoked tofu gives the filling lovely meatiness and its smoky flavour. I used an already pressed brand of tofu that is popular in the UK (Tofoo) and comes in 225 g / 8 oz packs. If using a different brand that does not come already pressed, you will need more like 400 oz / 14 oz. If smoked tofu is unavailable, you can use liquid smoked or even smoked paprika to compensate.

SPRING ONIONS: I used a bunch of spring onions (also known as scallions) for the aromatic base. I sauteed white and light green parts until soft and kept the dark green parts aside for garnish. If you don’t have spring onions, a couple of shallots or a small onion will also work.

GARLIC: A few garlic cloves are essential to a good, savoury dumpling filling. Skip this ingredient at your peril.

GINGER: I also like my dumpling filling to have a little heat from fresh ginger. I used a large chunk of ginger (about 1 tbsp once grated finely), but you can use less or more to taste.

SOY SAUCE: Soy sauce is added to season and flavour the filling. As soy sauce is rich in umami, it doesn’t just add saltiness, but also meatiness & savouriness to this meatless flavour.

VINEGAR: A touch of acidity is needed here so rice vinegar is an obvious choice given the Japanese inspiration behind this recipe.

CHILLI PASTE/SAUCE: This is not a necessary addition and by all means skip it if you dislike hot food, but I like to add a couple of teaspoons of chilli sauce (not the sweet variety) to the filling.

SUGAR: A touch of sugar, not very much, is a nice addition to round off the flavour.

CORNSTARCH: I used some cornstarch slurry, which is cornstarch diluted in a small amount of water, to make the filling stick to itself more and to stop it from crumbling when folding the gyoza.

HOW TO MAKE IT?

1) PREPARE THE FILLING

To make the filling, I recommend dusting your food processor off. It saves you from standing over your chopping board for ages. First clean your mushrooms with a damp brush or a damp paper towel, then slice them thickly and pulse in a food processor until small and uniform.

Next, empty the food processor and mince the tofu. The only thing I do by hand is dicing the aromatics by hand as there isn’t enough volume for my food processor to do a good job, plus ginger is somewhat stringy and so it won’t work as well.

To begin with, sautee the mushrooms until they turns brown and all of the excess liquid cooks out, then empty the pan and pan-fry your aromatics before adding minced tofu and precooked mushrooms back to the pan. Season, thicken with a bit of cornstarch and then let it cool off.

2) FILL & FOLD

Once your filling is cool, prepare you work station and start filling and folding your gyoza. Place a piece of gyoza dough in the palm of your hand, paint a bit of water around the filling and then close the dough above the filling. You can do so by simply pressing the dough into a moon shape with your fingers or you can crimp the dough while you are at it for a more pleasing look – regardless, they will taste the same 😉 .Place each finished dumpling under a damp cloth so that the gyoza dough does not dry out and become dry.

3) FRY-STEAM-FRY

Once your dumplings are folded, preheat a small pan with a lid on low-medium heat to FRY-STEAM-FRY your gyoza. Add about a teaspoon of oil. Once it’s heated up arrange 10 or so dumplings on the pan. Allow the dumplings to cook until the bottoms are browned then add a splash of water to the pan and cover it with a lid. Steam the dumplings for about 10 minutes then take the lid of and add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and carry on cooking for 2-3 minutes for all excess moisture to evaporate and the bottoms to crisp up again. Gently prise the dumplings off with a spatula or a butter knife and place in the preheated oven while you cook the rest.