Gyoza/Chinese dumplings/potstickers

Seeing this month;s got a big smile on my face. Living in Japan Ive seen abundance of these but to my bad luck never got a chance to eat enough of these. You hardly find vegetarian stuff here, Japanese don't find a reason to NOT eat Egg, Meat, Fish, Beef... etc... So unlike me who has millions reasons not to eat the above i loose onto a lot of things available here to eat. Gyoza, Is my new found love for Asian cuisine, We recently found a Chinese ramen restaurant who serves vege gyoza'a and they taste amazingly YUM!!
Gyoza is an Asian dumpling, originating in China before becoming a staple in Japanese cuisine. In the United States, gyoza is commonly sold as a "potsticker," or “potstickers.” Gyoza is made from a very thin dumpling skin, and is filled with meat and vegetables. A soy based dipping sauce typically accompanies gyoza.
I have made these before at home but always used the store bough wrappers. No doubt they easy to easy but there is a whole new sense of accomplishment when you roll the sheets at home. The recipe given of the dough is amazing to work with. So ya this was a easy challenge for me and had great fun making them, and my hubby had more fun relishing them! :) He says this is like a awesome Saturday night munch to go along with drinks!! :)

Dough:
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water flour for work surface
Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).
Make the dough, Method 2 : In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)
Few leaves of Coriander.
Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

For the filling:
2cups Chinese cabbage shredded
bunch Nira roughly chopped
1 large green onions chopped
1/2 cup Shitake mushrooms chopped
2 cloves garlic
l piece ginger grated
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbs soy sauce
Green Chilli (optuional)

Mix all the above ingredients in a pan n fry over medium heat until cooked. Cool the mix and grind it to a paste.

Your filling is ready to be crimped in between your gyoza sheets.

I luckily found this very inexpensive gyoza crimper in one of our local stores here... i must say this made my job sooooo easy. I did make a few with my hand but crimping them with the machine gave it a Pro look :) The pics will explain it better.

Cooking the Gyoza:

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.
To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes
To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve

AWESOME!! is the verdict for it! All i can say is.. i already have another batch of filling ready in my fridge to be crimped up pretty soon!!! :)

RICOTTA GNOCCHI

Gnocchi... a total disaster when i first made them. I always had this misconception that Gnocchi are made using potatoes, But well The Daring Bakers cleared my misconception :) like always made me learn that they are made with different ingredients.

SO for the first ever Daring Cooks Challenge they choose 'Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi' from Zuni Cafe Cookbook, But i had to alternate the recipe to my own being a vegetarian.

The word gnocchi means "lump", and comes from nocchio, a knot in the wood. It’s been a traditional Italian pasta type of probably Middle Eastern origin since Roman times. Gnocchi are widely available dried, frozen, or fresh in vacuum sealed packages. Ive tried those too but somehow they ended up in the thrash can. :( So i was pretty hesitant to try this challenge. But well had to that's what challenges are for :)
Lets get started. Firstly u need Ricotta cheese, which i made at home as Ive done it a lot of times before. It is exactly like 'Paneer' Cottage cheese widely used in India.

Ricotta Cheese.
Milk - half gallon
1/2 cup lime juice/Vinegar
Cheese Cloth.
Boil the milk in a thick-bottomed vessel on medium heat, stirring occasionally Rinse the vessel with cold water before you put it on heat, it avoids the milk from sticking to the pan. Once the milk starts to boil, reduce the heat and add the lime juice, stirring continuously.
In few minutes, you see the milk splitting into small white clouds floating on top. Let the milk stand till the whey gets clear. This process takes few minutes, so wait at least five minutes. Switch off the heat and let it stand for few more minutes. Then pour the whole thing immediately into a clean cheese cloth in a sieve. Leave the sieved cheese for a while so that the water drains. In about 15 min or more tie the cloth tight enough and hang it under the sink and leave it over night to let the water drain well. Your cheese is ready!!! If not using immediately Refrigerate it until use.

Next step is making Gnocchi- I made up my own recipe as i cannot use eggs. It still was light and fluffy :)

Ricotta Gnocchi.

1 cup ricotta cheese

3-4 tbs Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Milk as required

Mix the above ingredients into a smooth dough using milk. Add milk gradually so that you don't over soften the mix. Once the dough is ready let is stand for 15 min. Then take a small piece of dough and roll it into a elongated tube. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch size pieces and keep aside. Using a fork I rolled each Gnocchi on it to give a ribbed texture. I heard some where that they mainly give ribbed texture to gnocchi so that the sauce clings well to the pasta. In the mean while keep a pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt and a few drops of olive oil, throw in your pasta and let them boil until they start floating on the top. This takes just a few minutes. Drain them well and ... Now your pasta is ready to be tossed!!!

For the sauce-

Basil pesto

1/2 cup Fresh cherry tomatoes sliced into half

Asparagus Cut into 3's

Few pimento olive's sliced.

In a pan heat a tbs of olive oil and add your pesto sauce. Stir in the Asparagus and let it tender down a bit, Add the Gnocchi and cherry tomatoes, Salt and pepper to season. Toss well to coat the pasta well with the sauce. Ready to be Served!! :)

Well the verdict for this challenge would be 'Great' I m really glad that i tried to make Gnocchi again which actually ended up in our tummies rather than the thrash can. :) I m sure to try a different variation soon again with a more basic sauce.

These Little pillows of heaven (as they are widely known as) are a must TRY!!!

Thanks to the Daring Cooks!!! for making me a better cook .......