Healthy Vegetable Gyoza (Vegan Dumplings)

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Gyoza are Japanese dumplings filled with meat or vegetables. Actually, these dumplings originated in China but they have also become a popular dish in Japan.

Because I am very interested in Japanese cuisine and I also like dumplings very much, I wanted to try them out at home. Gyoza can be prepared in different ways. On the one hand, you can fry them this is a very popular variation. On the other hand, you can steam the vegetable dumplings or cook them in a soup. You could also steam your Gyoza and fry them after that. But I’m not allowed to write so much about it because unfortunately, we burnt the bottoms. Next time we will try it again and hopefully, it will work :-). Not everything can always work out. I can only recommend you not to try a recipe out too late in the day ;-). However, the steamed Gyoza turned out very good, and in combination with the vegetable filling it was really delicious!

How to prepare vegan Gyoza?

Of course, the dough for Gyoza is very important. You can either buy dumpling wrappers from the Asian Supermarket or make them yourself. The wrappers are usually cut into small round slices. Perfect to form the Gyoza. A little handwork is needed for this recipe :-).

What’s the dough made of? Basically, the dough consists of flour, hot water, and salt. This means that you could make the dough easily yourself but I actually didn’t do that. I was too lazy and I have bought it (the handwork was enough for me :-D).

If you want to prepare the vegetable dumplings gluten-free, I recommend that you make the wrappers yourself, using rice flour.

In Japan, Gyoza are traditionally filled with minced meat, chives, onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, cabbage, and soy sauce. You could also easily imitate this with a vegan meat substitute or tofu minced meat as described in my vegan Taco recipe with Salsa Verde. But we tried a slightly different mix. It was also super tasty and healthy!

So the Gyoza filling consists of

• eggplant
• onion
• smoked tofu
• spring onions
• carrots
• Chinese cabbage
• garlic
• chili
• sesame oil
• Sriracha
• soy sauce

As you already know, we can’t live without chili so we had to put it in our Gyoza filling. But this is optional and also not traditional. So you can avoid Chili and Sriracha. But If you want an extra thrill, try it out :-)))))

How does a bamboo steamer work?

This bamboo steamer was a present for my boyfriend. Steamers are really cheap, traditional, and easy to use. I also think they look pretty, don’t you think?! 🙂

You put thin cloths in your bamboo baskets as a base (the cloths are often included with the purchase). Then place your Gyoza on the cloths, close the lid and finally place the basket in a pot or wok. Add some water but the steamer should only be 1 centimeter in the water. Set the stove to a high temperature.

You cook your food very gently with this method. Since it has two layers, you can steam other vegetables or another load of Gyoza?! We definitely had enough Gyoza for both layers.

Which is the best dip for Gyoza?

There are several dips that are very delicious with Gyoza. Such as sesame, peanut butter, or chili dips. We have decided to make a sweet and spicy chili dip. This dip is very quick to make with only 8 ingredients. We discovered this dip in a vegan cooking school.

If you want to enjoy the dip mildly, I recommend to simply skip the chili pepper.

How to store Gyoza?

You should definitely figure out how to store Gyoza because you will probably end up with a large number of dumplings. You should take your time and form some Gyoza so that you can simply reheat and enjoy them in the next few days or weeks. The work is worth it :-). You can simply freeze your dumplings and steam them directly frozen.

Tip: Spread vegetable Gyoza on a baking tray. They should have enough distance from each other. Then freeze them for about 2 hours. After that, you can put them all together in a box or bag. This procedure prevents the gyoza from sticking together.

Do you need more healthy dinner or lunch ideas?! Then check out these delicious vegan recipes:

• Roasted Red Pepper Pesto
• Green Coconut Thai Curry
• Vegan Cheese Potato Casserole
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai
• Roasted Cauliflower with Curry

How do you like this recipe?

I would be very happy to get feedback from you! If you try these vegetable Gyoza, please leave me a comment with a ⭐️ rating. Are you active on Instagram? If you post a picture of this Gyoza recipe, please link it to me with @plantiful.heart so I can see your creation! ?

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