Gyoza recipe: pan-fried dumplings with a crisp lace crust

This gyoza recipe follows the Japanese method: pork and cabbage dumplings fried, steamed under a lid, then fried again until a thin lace of flour, the hane, sets around them. The keys are a dry filling and a covered pan.

Utsunomiya, in Tochigi, has built its name on gyoza, even if Hamamatsu now tops the household spending survey: its shop association dates from 1993 and had 145 members in 2023, and it holds its 26th gyoza festival on 7 and 8 November 2026. This house recipe makes 24. For more Japanese cooking, see our guide to what to eat in Kyoto.

Ingredients

Good gyoza are fried, steamed and fried again; the lid does half the work.

• 24 round gyoza wrappers, about 9 cm
• 200 g minced pork, not too lean
• 200 g Chinese cabbage, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 30 g nira (garlic chives), chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce and sake
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon potato starch
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 100 ml water whisked with 1 teaspoon plain flour
• Sauce: 2 tablespoons each of soy sauce and rice vinegar, a few drops of rayu

Method

1. Salt the cabbage for 15 minutes and squeeze it dry, or its water will soak and split the wrappers.
2. Knead the pork with the soy, sake, ginger, garlic and starch for 2 minutes, until sticky: this binds the proteins and keeps the juices in.
3. Mix in the cabbage, nira and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil; chill for 20 minutes to firm.
4. Put a heaped teaspoon on each wrapper, wet half the edge, fold and make five pleats on the front side only. The pleats give the dumpling a flat base to brown.
5. Fry the gyoza in tight rows in the oil, in a 26 cm non-stick pan over medium heat, for 2 minutes.
6. Pour in the stirred flour water and cover at once. Steam for 5 to 6 minutes: the trapped steam cooks the pork and softens the tops.
7. Uncover, drizzle in the remaining sesame oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. As the water evaporates, the flour fries into the hane.
8. Turn out, crust up, and serve with the sauce.

Getting the gyoza recipe right: the crust

The hane forms only once all the water has gone, so listen for the crackle, not the clock. Potato starch instead of flour gives a glassier crust. Drink a cold lager or a whisky highball.

Gyoza: frequently asked questions

Can I freeze gyoza? Yes, raw, for up to a month. Cook from frozen with 2 extra minutes of steam.

Can I make the wrappers instead of buying them? Knead 150 g plain flour, a pinch of salt and 80 ml just-boiled water, rest for 30 minutes and roll 9 cm rounds. They are thicker and chewier.

Is there a vegetarian gyoza? Swap the pork for 150 g pressed firm tofu and 100 g chopped shiitake, plus an extra teaspoon of sesame oil.