FROZEN ASSETS

FROZEN ASSETS

VEGETABLE GYOZA

Try Barney Desmazery’s take on gyoza. These can be cooked from frozen and easily adapted with your own fillings

Vegetable gyoza

There’s something calming about the process of assembling gyoza. It takes a little time, but you’ll be rewarded with a freezer full of dumplings that can be cooked from frozen whenever you want them. If you don’t have time to make the dough, you can use shop-bought gyoza skins.

MAKES 25 PREP 2 hrs plus 1 hr chilling COOK 20 mins MORE EFFORT V ❄

250g plain flour cornflour, for dusting For the filling 200g white cabbage 4 chestnut mushrooms 1 carrot 4 water chestnuts (optional) thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated 2 garlic cloves, finely grated 3 spring onions, finely sliced 2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for frying 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp white grape juice For the dipping sauce 6 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar crispy chilli oil (optional) 1 If you’re making your own dough, tip the flour and 1 tsp salt into a bowl. Bring a kettle to the boil and measure 150ml boiling water. Slowly pour the water over the flour while mixing with a spoon to form a stiff dough. When the dough is cool enough to handle, tip onto a surface and knead for 10 mins until smooth. Wrap the dough and chill for at least 1 hr. Alternatively, you can use 25-30 shop-bought gyoza skins. 2 Meanwhile, coarsely grate the cabbage, mushrooms, carrot and water chestnuts, if using, then tip into a bowl. Add the ginger, garlic and spring onions. Heat the oil in a wok, then tip in all the veg and stir-fry over a high heat for 3 mins until softened. Drizzle over the soy sauce and grape juice, and cook for 2-3 mins. Season to taste. Tip back into the bowl to cool completely. 3 Divide the dough in two. Scatter a surface generously with cornflour and roll one ball of dough out until paper-thin. Use a 10cm cutter to cut out rounds of dough and pile them up (they won’t stick because of the cornflour). Repeat with all the dough, re-rolling the trimmings until you have about 25 skins. 4 To assemble, sprinkle cornflour on a tray and have a bowl of cold water ready. Hold a skin in the palm of one hand and put a teaspoon of the filling in the centre. Dip your finger in the water and wipe around the inside edge of the skin. Bring the edges of the skin together, pinching pleats along one side. Space them out on a baking tray and freeze, then tip into a bag and put back in the freezer. Will keep for three months. Can be cooked from frozen. 5 Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick frying pan with a lid. Fry, flat-side down, for 2 mins until golden. Add 100ml water to the pan and cover. Cook over a medium heat for 3-5 mins until the water has evaporated and the gyoza is cooked through. Remove the lid and leave the gyoza to sizzle on the bottom for a minute. Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together, then serve with the gyoza.

GOOD TO KNOW vegan PER SERVING 62 kcals • fat 2g • saturates none • carbs 10g • sugars 2g • fibre 1g • protein 1g • salt 0.7g

Barney is Good Food’s skills & shows editor. He has worked as a chef in London, France and Australia, and is a pro at adapting restaurant recipes to make at home. @barney_desmazery

For prawn gyoza, omit the veg and replace with finely chopped raw peeled prawns – don’t precook the filling Ready-made gyoza skins are available online and from specialist shops

For beef or chicken gyoza, swap the cabbage, carrot and mushroom in this recipe with 400g minced beef or chicken, and don’t precook the filling

To get a crispy ‘skirt’ around your gyoza, mix another 1 tsp cornflour with the water before pouring in the pan