Happa Flavours: Duck Shiitake Gyozas

Hapa is a Hawaian term that denotes someone of mixed descents, hence the title of this blog that refers to my French and Japanese origins.

The following recipe is quite typical of this mix. Gyozas evoke home food to me, simple, comforting, and tasty, but I'm always disappointed when I go to a Japanese restaurant. I thus decided to take things into my own hands and made fresh Gyozas... with a French twist. Gyozas are traditionally either vegetarian or pork based, but my love for Duck being eternal, I went a slightly different route and combined the deep flavour of Duck with earthy Shiitake mushrooms and Chinese 5 spice, the result was more satisfying than I had ever dreamed.

 For 25 gyozas

-300 g of minced duck meat
-5 Shiitake Mushrooms
-6 Chinese Chives
-Half a Chinese Cabbage, finely shredded
-1 Thumb of Ginger
-1 Garlic clove
-3 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
-2 tbsp Soy Sauce
-2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar (non sweet)
-Gyoza Wrappers

For the Dipping Sauce:
-2 tbsp of Rice Wine Vinegar
-4 tbsp of Soy Sauce
-2 tsp of Sesame Oil 


Dice all the non liquid ingredients and combine in a mixing bowl.
Add the 5 spice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and mix with your hands to make sure the filling is evenly seasoned and let the filling marinate for 20 minutes.

Prepare the Dipping Sauce in the meantime by simply mixing the Rice Wine Vinegar, Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil.

Take 1 teaspoon of filling and place into the centre of a wrapper (quenelle shape).
Brush the edges of the wrapper with water and fold in half to make half circles. Now for the aesthetic part, crimp the edges of the semicircle about 5 times as shown bellow:

Cooking:

The actual cooking of gyozas is the hardest bit to control in the recipe, and the secret is actually to cook it using 2 different methods.
First, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick pan. Place maximum 8 gyozas at a time with the crimped edges up. Allow to sear for 1 minute until they turn golden and crispy on the bottom. Then add a dash of water ( it should evaporate fully in 2 minutes) and cover immediately. This will allow the rest of the dough to be cooked with the steam.

Serve right away while still hot, and don't forget to dip the gyozas in the sharp and tangy sauce, it complements the deep flavour of the gyozas perfectly.