What is gyoza? The Japanese dumpling, explained

Gyoza is a Japanese dumpling: a thin wrapper around a filling of minced meat and vegetables, fried golden on one side and gently steamed on the other. That contrast inside a single bite is exactly why people get hooked.

It is not originally Japanese

The gyoza is a Chinese invention. The original is called jiaozi and has been eaten in China for centuries, especially around Chinese New Year. Japanese soldiers and settlers returning from Manchuria after the Second World War brought the recipe home, and over the following decades Japan made it its own.

That "own" lives in the details. The Japanese version got a thinner wrapper, a finer filling and considerably more garlic. Where jiaozi are often boiled or steamed, the default in Japan is to fry them.

Why it is half crisp

The classic preparation is called yaki-gyoza and takes three steps:

1. The gyoza's go flat-side down into a hot oiled pan until the base is golden.
2. A splash of water goes in and the lid goes on. The steam cooks the top and the filling.
3. The lid comes off and the last of the moisture evaporates, so the base crisps up again.

That order is the whole point. Skip step two and the filling is raw. Skip step three and the base is soft. It is also why gyoza's are known in English as potstickers: use too little oil and they weld themselves to the pan.

There are other forms, too. Sui-gyoza are boiled and served in broth, age-gyoza are deep-fried. The pan-fried version is by far the best known.

What goes inside

The classic filling is minced pork with Chinese cabbage, garlic chives, garlic and ginger. The cabbage is not a filler but a technique: it is salted and squeezed dry, which keeps the filling juicy without turning the wrapper soggy.

Beyond that there are countless variations — chicken, prawn, and vegetarian fillings with mushroom or aubergine. The folding is done by hand, and the pleats along one edge are not decoration: they keep the parcel shut while it fries.

Two cities fighting over it

In Japan, gyoza is serious business. Hamamatsu and Utsunomiya have competed for years over the title of gyoza capital, measured in household spending per year. The ranking changes regularly, and it genuinely makes the news there.

Hamamatsu serves its gyoza's in a ring with bean sprouts in the middle. Utsunomiya keeps it tighter and uses more cabbage. Who is right depends entirely on who you ask.

How to eat them

Gyoza's are sharing food. You order several kinds for the table and eat them with your hands or with chopsticks, dipped in soy sauce cut with vinegar — usually with chilli oil alongside.

They are at their best within a minute or two of leaving the pan. After that the base loses its crunch, and you lose the very contrast the whole thing was built around.

At GYŌZA BAR on Witte de Withstraat we fold them by hand and fry them to order. What is on today is on our menu.