NEVER ENOUGH GARLIC

We absolutely love gyoza (dumplings), and since it's something we plan to eat often now that we've nailed the filling recipe, we decided to try making our own gyoza wrappers (or skins) for truly homemade and vegan gyoza.

And because making something new for the first time isn't tricky enough, we decided to add flavour to our gyoza dough, so we actually ended up making two batches: one flavoured with carrot, and the other with spinach. 

This was the end result. Perfect, colourful little parcels of gyoza, and (not to toot our own horn) the most glorious gyoza we have ever had! The conclusion? Yes, it's time-consuming making gyoza wrappers at home, but it's not hard, and if you have the time to spare, it's totally worth it. Trust us - we sacrificed going to the gym to make our wrappers, and it was definitely better eating freshly made gyoza than sweating for hours on end!

By now, you're either wondering: a) what on earth is gyoza, or b) why are we making our own gyoza wrappers when you can buy them in most Asian stores?

Without delving too much into definitions (because we're sure to get some technicalities wrong), gyoza is a type of Japanese dumpling that's usually stuffed with a mixture of vegetables, meat, and spices, and it can either be pan-fried, boiled, or deep-fried (and probably more).

As for why we're making our own wrappers, it's for two simple reasons: they taste so much better than store-bought ones, and you know what's in them, so there are no nasty surprises and weird additives. Also, if you don't eat gluten, you can easily make these gluten free when you make them yourself! And as we mentioned before, you can flavour them with different veggies to add colour and taste.

Notes, Do's, and Dough-n'ts (Sorry):

Note: The two kinds of dough had a slightly different water content, so we split them into two recipes to make sure you get the perfect consistency from the start. We make the spinach gyoza dough first, and you can find the carrot gyoza dough futher down. 

Do: If you are going to be making both kinds of dough at the same time, cut each recipe in half unless you want 164 gyoza dumplings!

Don't: Yes, refrigerating the dough and waiting 30 minutes is annoying, but don't skip this step; the dough is easiest to work with when cooled.

The Spinach Dough

Ingredients (makes 82 gyoza wrappers):

• 330 g (11.6 oz) all-purpose flour + more for dusting (sub with gluten free flour for gluten free version)
• 200 ml  (6.8 fl. oz) warm water
  
• 50 g spinach 

Instructions:

1. Blend the spinach and some of the water into a smooth puree.
2. Pour the flour into a large bowl (or a standing mixer), and make a well in the centre.
3. Pour the spinach puree into the well, and start kneading at medium speed.
4. Add the water little by little while kneading until the dough is smooth and releases the sides of the bowl to form a ball.
5. Wrap the dough in baking paper or a silicone oven mat (like we did), and refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes; the dough is easiest to work with when cooled. 

After 30 minutes...

1. Cut your dough in quarters, and roll each into a ball between your palms.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 quarter of dough until approx. 2 mm (0.08 or 5/64 inches) thin.
3. Using a circular cookie cutter or a clean drinking glass (like we did), cut out as many circles of dough as possible. When layering the circles (wrappers), either spread them out on flour-dusted baking paper, or use generious amounts of flour between each wrapper to prevent them from sticking to each other!
4. Re-roll the leftover dough, and repeat until you have made wrappers out of all the dough. 
5. And that's it! Now you're ready for the filling. You can either make your own or try our amazing, vegan shiitake mushroom and smoked tofu gyoza filling.

The Carrot Dough

Ingredients (makes 82 gyoza wrappers):

• 350 g (12.3 oz) all-purpose flour + more for dusting (sub with gluten free flour for gluten free version)
• 200 ml  (6.8 fl. oz) warm water
  
• 1 large-ish carrot (approx. 100 g/3.5 oz) 

Instructions:

1. Blend the carrot and some of the water into a smooth puree.
2. Pour the flour into a large bowl (or a standing mixer), and make a well in the centre.
3. Pour the carrot puree into the well, and start kneading at medium speed.
4. Add the water little by little while kneading until the dough is smooth and releases the sides of the bowl to form a ball.
5. Wrap the dough in baking paper or a silicone oven mat (like we did), and refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes...

1. Cut your dough in quarters, and roll each into a ball between your palms.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 quarter of dough until approx. 2 mm (0.08 or 5/64 inches) thin.
3. Using a circular cookie cutter or a clean drinking glass (like we did), cut out as many circles of dough as possible. When layering the circles (wrappers), either spread them out on flour-dusted baking paper, or use generious amounts of flour between each wrapper to prevent them from sticking to each other!
4. Re-roll the leftover dough, and repeat until you have made wrappers out of all the dough. 
5. Now it's filling time, so check out our amazing, vegan shiitake mushroom and smoked tofu gyoza filling.