Gyoza filled with BBQ pulled beef.
Gyoza with Asian-style BBQ pulled beef, served with a dipping sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds.
If you love Japanese cuisine as much as we do, this gyoza recipe – Japanese dumplings – is definitely for you. It takes a bit of work, but oh, so delicious! This recipe was specially created for us by @duijvelslekker, who is definitely worth following on Instagram. A big tip! It takes some time, but the results are worth it… provided you enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, which is pretty much a requirement for this recipe.
BBQ Pulled Beef Preparation
Place a cast-iron pan (Dutch oven) over direct heat and heat the rice oil. Meanwhile, season the chuck roast with the five-spice powder and sear the meat until browned on both sides. Remove the meat from the Dutch oven. Sauté the onions, garlic, grated ginger, and sambal briefly in the pan. Then place the Dutch oven on indirect heat and add the shrimp paste (trassi) and brown sugar. Return the meat to the Dutch oven and add all ingredients except the hoisin sauce and ginger syrup. Cook on indirect heat at 130°C (266°F) for 3 hours with the lid on. Remove the lid to let the liquid reduce, but make sure it doesn’t evaporate completely—add a little water if needed. After around 5 hours, you should be able to pull the meat apart with meat claws or two forks. If the sauce is still a bit watery, reduce it further. Mix the hoisin sauce with the ginger syrup and stir it into the pulled beef sauce, then combine with the pulled beef.
Gyoza Dough Preparation
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until a dough starts to form. Remove it from the bowl and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll into cylinders. Let the gyoza dough rest for 20 minutes, covered with plastic wrap.
Dust your work surface with flour and cut each cylinder into 16 equal pieces by halving repeatedly. Form 32 small balls. Roll each ball in a little flour and flatten with your palm. Roll out to the desired thickness for the gyoza and cut out 8 cm circles using a cutter.
Dipping Sauce Preparation
Toast the sesame seeds briefly in a pan and mix them with sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir well and transfer to a small bowl.
Gyoza Assembly
Now for the main event. Finely chop the pak choi, spring onions, shiitakes, and garlic, and mix with the pulled beef. Grate the ginger into the mixture and combine well. Take one piece of gyoza dough in your non-dominant hand and place a teaspoon of the pulled beef filling in the center. Fold the dough to form your desired shape; the traditional crescent shape works well. Fold one side of the dough over repeatedly until sealed into a half-moon.
Heat sunflower oil in a pan and fry the gyoza until the bottoms are golden and crispy. Add water to the pan and cover with a lid to steam the gyoza for 3–4 minutes. Remove the lid and add a splash of sesame oil to crisp the bottoms again.
Serve the gyoza with the dipping sauce and garnish with chives and remaining sesame seeds.
It’s a bit of work, but what a feast the result is!
ENJOY!
