Mama Strickland's Gyozas

Ingredients:

• 5 cloves of garlic

• 1 bunch of chives

• Chinese cabbage

• 1 lb of ground pork

• 1-2 eggs

• 2 packs of gyoza wrappers (~100 gyozas total)

• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil

• White ground pepper

• For dipping: ponzu sauce, chili oil

Steps:

1. Cut the chinese cabbage into thin pieces (about 6-8 leaves), salt them, and let it sit in a bowl from 30 min - 1 hour. It should be kind of wilted (shouldn’t feel raw).

2. Cut the garlic and chives into small pieces.

3. Once the chinese cabbage is wilted, squeeze the water out until it's not moist.

4. Once the water is squeezed out of chinese cabbage, combine it with garlic, ground pork, chives, 1-2 eggs (holds mixture together), and mix thoroughly together in a bowl. If you have white ground pepper, add 3-4 shakes of it. Once it's mixed well, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in and mix again. 

5. Put the filling into the gyoza skins. Fill half the skin and leave room to put water on the edges to seal the gyoza.

6. It’s ready for cooking now! Put some oil in the pan and turn to medium heat to pan fry. Set the gyozas in so that the bottoms are resting on the pan and wait until the bottoms start to brown. Then pour in about a 1/4 cup of water to also steam them, but it really depends on your pan size. Just make sure the surface of the pan is covered in a very thin layer of water, then close the lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and wait seven minutes. Remove the lid and check that your gyozas are translucent. Then enjoy!

7. For dipping, use Ponzu (citrus soy sauce) or soy sauce mixed with a smidge of rice vinegar, and also use chili oil. But feel free to use whatever you want!