Weekend Cooking: Gyoza (Pork Dumplings)

It's been a big few weeks in my house.

In the space of 10 days my life changed completely with my son getting an offer to go and play junior college basketball in America, organising everything and then he was gone! It's a bit weird to think that my then 18 year old son moved to the other side of the world, but he did.

People are asking me if I miss him, and of course the answer is yes, but it's actually not too bad. In many ways it's almost as if he's been in his bedroom playing Xbox for the last month but there are a few differences. For one, if I buy a block of chocolate it's still there 3 days later, unless I eat it of course. I haven't bought milk since he left,  and there's no dirty dishes when I get back home.

One of the other things is that I can revisit recipes that I have made before and he wasn't keen on. This week, for example, I made Baked Zucchini, Tomato and Parmesan risotto. I made it a couple of years ago and my son wasn't keen but when I made it this week the boyfriend was super impressed and has already asked me to make it again. I was going to post the recipe for this today but it turns out I already did that 4 years ago, so I needed a plan B.

One of the things that I really enjoy doing with the BF is cooking, and he really likes it too. Most weekends we say what will we cook and we'll do it together, and often it is something new to both of us. Over the last few months, we've made things like Yorkshire Pudding and he's mastered Creme Brulee. I've tried baking new cakes and his son loves my Vanilla slices so I get regular requests to make that as well.

Today, though, we made dumplings!! It's something we talked about doing a while ago and this weekend is when it is going to get done. We're starting with a relatively basic recipe and then we will probably progress from there to slightly more complicated recipes.

Here's the basic recipe that we are using:

Gyoza (Pork Dumplings)

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 55g (3/4 cup) coarsely chopped green cabbage
• 2 tablespoons water
• 250g pork mince
• 2 shallots, trimmed, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 24 gow gee wrappers
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, extra
• 160ml (2/3 cup) water, extra
• Hakubaku Chilli Soy Noodle Sauce or soy sauce, to serve

Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook ginger and garlic, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add cabbage and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until the cabbage wilts. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool. Stir in pork, shallot, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Season with salt.

Place 1 wrapper on a clean work surface. Place 2 teaspoonfuls of pork mixture in the centre of the wrapper. Brush edges with water. Fold over to enclose filling. Pinch edges together. Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Repeat with remaining wrappers and pork mixture.

Heat half the extra vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook half the gyozas for 2 minutes or until bases are golden. Add half the extra water. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes or until cooked and liquid has evaporated. Transfer to a serving platter. Cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil, gyoza and water. Serve with chilli sauce or soy sauce.

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