Gyoza: noun a Japanese dish consisting of wonton wrappers stuffed with pork and cabbage.
Blitz: noun an overwhelming all-out attack.
Last Saturday night found me in the middle of a Gyoza blitz. It was my second night with the Hot Stove Society and Chef Jaime. It was a wonderful experience just like the previous night. I arrived a little early and started with a nice glass of red wine. I had been paired with another attendee named Pat, and we were having a great conversation about different cooking classes and experiences in the Seattle area. She was also giving me some ideas on other activities to do in the area.
Chef Jaime brought our starter salads around and while it was the same as the previous night, it was still delicious. I remembered to take a picture this time. It was ribbons of cantaloupe and prosciutto garnished with herbs, micro greens and chili oil. It was a nice refreshing starter to the night.
At our station, we were each provided with a booklet that contained the recipes for the dough and filling, tips, and pages for us to take our own notes during the class. Most of the “mise en place” had been already done. Each station had some of the ingredients and all the utensils and implements we would need. We also had a KitchenAid stand mixer with the pasta roller attached.
Chef Jaime kicked off the class with a quick intro and overview of what were going to do. We first had to prepare the Napa cabbage by shaving enough cabbage to fill one cup. We mixed the cabbage with enough salt to make it taste a little to salty for a salad. Once it started to glisten, we placed another steel mixing bowl on top and placed a pestle within the top bowl to squeeze the cabbage. This had to sit for about 20 minutes.
Jaime continued the demonstration with making the dough. The dough is a very simple recipe with about 4 parts flour, 1 part water, and a pinch of salt. The water can vary based on your environment. It requires a good bit of mixing and kneading. In true cooking show style, Jaime had dough already made. She preferred to have us use our time more wisely than watching her knead dough for about 5 minutes. She then moved onto making the filling.
With the dough that was made prior to class and had adequate time to rest, she demonstrated how to sheet the dough using the pasta roller attachment. This is process in which I am already familiar as I own the same brand mixer and pasta roller attachment. After she had a sheet of dough, she used a 3 inch cutter to cut the rounds of dough.
Jaime demonstrated a few different ways of folding the Gyoza. All styles looked elegant and appealing. Next, we got to see how to pan fry them. First she started with some neutral oil like canola oil in a frying pan. It was about 2 TBSP of oil. Over medium heat, she waited for the oil to get a shimmer and she then placed a piece of dough to confirm it was going to sizzle. This was a great way to see if the oil was at the right temp.
Placing the Gyoza side by side in the pan, she let them cook until the bottoms started to get a golden sear. She then added a cornstarch/water mix to the pan and quickly covered it. This was something new to me but as she explained why, it made total sense.
When you order potstickers at a place like Din Tai Fung, all the potstickers are plated like they are stuck together. This is done on purpose. She used the cornstarch/water mix to create a nice lattice to not only give a crispy bottom to the dumplings, but also help them stick together.
It was now our turn to make our Gyoza. The staff had brought out the remaining ingredients for us and dough that had been prepared and rested. Pat and I started quickly with making our filling and sheeting our dough. We each took turns using the pasta roller to sheet our dough. We were unsure how thin to go with the pasta roller, so we went to level 8.
Jaime stopped by at some point and said that our dough looked good at 7 and I said we had one more to go. She mentioned that going to 8 is getting to restaurant quality where it is almost translucent. We weren’t worried, our Gyoza was going to hold.
Pat and I had decided that we were going to make as many as we could. We weren’t concerned about having time to cook them. We preferred using all the filling and making a good number to take home to cook later. We ran out of filling before we ran out of dough.
We did cook 5 Gyoza each and took the time to enjoy them. The staff put out a “Make your own dipping sauce” station for students to do just that. I never partake in dipping sauce when I have dumplings. I consider myself more of a purist and just eat the dumplings plain.
The Gyoza were cooked to perfection. The filling was cooked thoroughly while maintaining its moisture. The dough was soft on top and had a nice crisp on the bottom. As you can see below, we did have a nice lattice on some of the edges.
I considered this a successful blitz. We had made 3 dozen Gyoza in a little more than an hour. We boxed up the remaining uncooked Gyoza and placed them in the freezer while we cooked and ate a small sampling. I had such a good time with my fellow students and staff that when I was saying goodbye and walked back to my apartment, I left my recipe booklet at my station. This was noticed as soon as I walked in the door.
Surprisingly, I recalled most of the recipe. I think. I will make it at home sometime and see if it tastes like I remember. Tonight, I cooked the frozen Gyoza from Saturday night. My coworker Matt had sampled some and said they were very delicious and that I could make them anytime I wanted and he would help consume them.
If you search for a recipe with the cornstarch/water to make the lattice, you will find quite a variety. This is a simple one I found:
Lattice Mix:
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup warm water
Mix together and pour into a squeeze bottle.
Shake well before adding mix to the pan.
I hope you have the opportunity to check out the classes at Hot Stove Society. You will have a great experience and it will inspire you to start cooking more. I can’t wait to go shopping for ingredients and make dumplings at home. If I remembered the recipe right and it turns out, I will share it in an upcoming post.
Sarah Roonie 