Ginger Chicken Potstickers

Everyone loves a cheeky little trip to Japanese food chain Wagamamas, right? Well I do. It's all about the Yaki Udon for me; a huge bowl of noodles, veg, meat and seafood that is just so, so satisfying it makes me want to cry. I don't though, that would be a bit strange... 

Alongside this big bowl of beautiful however, I LOVE to treat myself to some Gyoza dumplings. I prefer the steamed version to the crispier fried version, but it's all good. I'm not really fussed when it comes to Gyoza. Since trying it, I have formed this obsession with dim sum and steamed dumplings of Chinese and Japanese origin. I would not rest until I had made my own. And when I did make my own I was so surprised about how easy it was! The only difficulty may be sourcing the wonton wrappers, however there are recipes available to show you how to make your own, and when I become a bit more confident I will give it a whirl too. 

So the student loan came through and instead of drinking my money away I decided I wanted to try and make my own Gyoza or "Potstickers" as they are often called. I nipped to a local Korean food shop called Seoul Plaza. I found the wonton pastries/wrappers in the frozen food section and by the time I'd walked back they'd defrosted, so that was pretty handy! Once defrosted, keep them refrigerated and use within 3 days :)

Now on to the big guns. This is where shit gets real. 

Ingredients (serves 4): 

• 1 pack of wonton wrappers
• flour for dusting
• 400g chicken breast, minced/ finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed/finely chopped
• A thumb's length of grated ginger
• 6 spring onions finely sliced
• 2 tsp light soy
• 2 tsp dark soy
• 2 dessert spoons of rice vinegar
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 100ml water
• Chilli oil (as much as you can handle)

Method:

1. Mix the minced chicken in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, 1 tsp of each of the soy sauces, 1 spoonful of rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and three quarters of the spring onion. Make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated and leave covered with cling film for about 10 minutes whilst you clear and clean your work surface.
2. Dust some flour onto your work surface. Next, lay out the wrappers in a single layer onto the work surface, being careful not to create any holes when separating the pastries from each other. This bit can be a bit tricky, but take your time. You don't want any holes! 
3. Next, use a teaspoon to spoon a bit of the mixture into the middle of the pastry. With some water, wet the edges of the pastry so that they stick. Pick up the wrapper and join the edges together to create a crescent shape. Then crimp the edges with your fingers (this can be tricky and takes practise) to ensure it is well sealed. It will resemble a little Cornish pasty! 
4. Repeat step 3 with the rest of the the pastries. It will take a bit of time but it's quite an enjoyable and relaxing experience, so have some fun with it. Get yer mates involved or your kids, maybe even the S.O!
5. In a shallow based pan (a wok would be perfect) heat some olive oil. When it is hot, tightly pack in your pastries so that their little crimped handles are facing up. Fry the bottoms of the dumplings for about 2 or 3 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden. I won't lie to you I burned mine the first time around, so just keep a watch on! 
6. Add your 100ml of water to the pan/wok and cover with a lid. Steam the dumplings until all the water has evaporated. Uncover and fish out of the pan and on to a plate. 
7. Make a quick dipping sauce by adding a tsp of each of the soy sauces, another spoonful of rice vinegar and some chilli oil to taste. Garnish your dumplings with more spring onion and serve.