Beef Jiaozi (gyoza)

It is a relief that this dish turned out well, since it has been a while since I last made it. Beef is stronger tasting than pork, so I added a little more ginger than with the usual pork recipe. Opt for mince that is not sinewy for a more velvety bite. My recipe uses 25% wholemeal flour so it turns out robust in taste and yet pliable for pleating.

Overall, not bad. Maybe a dash of shaoxing would have completed the taste.

Skin:
200g hot dough, 50g cold dough

Method:

Prepare 200g plain flour (I use 25% wholemeal).
With a pair of chopsticks, stir in boiling water, a little at a time until flour just turns out crumbly.
Set aside.
Prepare 50g plain flour.
Drizzle slowly cold tepid water, stirring continuously until the flour turns out crumbly.
Combine the hot and cold dough. Knead until smooth.
Leave to rest in a covered container, about 3 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the beef filling:

300g lean beef, minced
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
Dash of light soy sauce
Pepper to taste
1 cup of minced cabbage

Mix the ingredients for beef filling until it appears homogeneous.

Assembly:

Roll the dough to a thick rope.
Cut out knobs of prepared dough, about half a thumb long.
Roll into a ball. Flatten.
Roll it to resemble a circle, about the size of your palm.
Spoon 1.5 tsp of beef filling to the center of the dough.
Fold the dough to wrap, pleating the edges from left to right.
Repeat for the remaining dough.
Rest the uncooked gyoza in the fridge, covered.

Cooking:
Lightly oil a non-stick pan. Heat.
Place gyozas on a sizzling pan.
Ladle stock or water over the gyoza. Be careful of steam.
Cover.
Turn to medium high heat.
When stock dries, leave it to pan fry a little while more.
Serve hot, with vinegar.