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Perhaps, every country on earth has its own version of meat dumplings, for instance in Russia and Ukraine people enjoy their pelmeni quite a lot, Chinese dim sum is extremely popular in both China and the US, a lot of my friends absolutely love Polish pierogi here in Detroit and my cousin tasted the best khinkali when she visited Georgia. Dumplings go by a lot of different names, methods of preparation and shapes, yet they're all very very similar.

If I had to pick just one version to enjoy for the rest of my life, I would have to say Japanese Gyoza, by far they are my absolute favorite. I just love the combination of savory meat, aromatic vegetables and umami dipping sauce!

While gyoza may seem intimidating to take on in your own kitchen, it is extremely easy to make, especially these days, when you don't even have to make your own wrappers. I normally grab some from the grocery store, they're already thin enough and using them helps me to speed up the process big time.
Here is a basic list of ingredients that I use when making my gyoza, I'm going to skip on providing the exact amounts since that will depend on how many gyoza you're making.

Ingredients:

• gyoza wrappers;
• ground pork;
• fresh cabbage;
• fresh ginger;
• fresh garlic;
• green onions;
• salt and white pepper;
• tamari.

This isn't a final list, of course, shiitake mushrooms are an extremely popular ingredient, but I hardly ever have them around to throw some in. Feel free to drizzle some sake on top of your filling mixture too!

You can either steam your gyoza or fry them, I do both. I begin by frying them in a cast iron skillet for a couple minutes, then add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and steam gyoza for additional 4 minutes or so.

When I make my dipping sauce, I usually use toasted sesame seed oil, chili paste and tamari. If you're frying gyoza, it is best to use neutral flavor oil in my opinion, so flavors don't get too overwhelming.
Enjoy!

_{artwork by kookyan}