One of the main differences between blog food and food styled food is that blog food is edible. You wouldn’t want to eat food styled food because it’s likely sat on set for hours and at the least been handled to death or at the very worst, there have been additions which make the food last longer on set! Meat is regularly oiled up to look juicy, sauces and stews get a dash of white corn syrup to look glossy and delicious, etc. The gummy-bear pancakes on my website were generously coated with silicon spray so they wouldn’t absorb the syrup too readily! Wraps are most often superglued together, and their stuffing is generally only 1/3 deep (the rest is crumpled up paper towel!). Coffee, tea or bevy’s in general are usually not even real, kitchen bouquet parades as a variety of liquids! So there is a HUGE difference between blog food (which we usually eat, moments after it’s shot) and food styled food! But you needn’t worry about these gyozas, not only are they pretty enough to eat, they were eagerly consumed directly after the shoot, and they were so yummy!
Turkey Gyoza
For original gyoza wrapper recipe, please click here.
Makes 16 gyoza
Ingredients:
- 120 g AP unbleached flour
- 67 mL water, boiling
- pinch of salt
- cornstarch for dusting
- 150 g lean ground turkey
- 5 mL sesame oil
- 40 g shallots (1 large)
- 3 g garlic scapes, finely minced
- 10 g ginger, finely grated
- 15 g carrot, finely grated
- 15 mL soy sauce
- 3 g coconut sugar
- Butter or grapeseed oil to brown gyoza
Directions:
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add boiling water to the flour and salt mixture slowly to make a dough, turn out to a surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Cut dough into two and roll into a sausage-like roll. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Heat the sesame oil in a pan and sweat out the onions, add the scapes and cook for a minute. Add the ground turkey and cook through. Stir in the ginger, carrot, soy sauce and coconut sugar and cook for a minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool thoroughly.
- To make the wrappers, roll each sausage out to a manageable thickness and run it through the KitchenAid pasta roller from #1 to #4.
- Cut into 7.5 cm (3 inch) rounds. Wet the edges of each round, spoon 5 mL (1 tsp) of meat filling into the centre and fold in half and seal the edges. I used a handy pleater like this one to get perfect pleats.
- Steam each one for 3-5 minutes. When cooked, melt butter or grapeseed oil in a cast iron pan. Pan fry each one on one side only so it is golden and crispy. Serve with your choice of dipping sauce.
- Freeze uncooked gyoza on a piece of parchment and once frozen add to a ziplock bag for future use. Frozen gyoza will cook in 3-5 minutes!
[…] I was pinched for time, otherwise, I would have made my own dumpling wrappers. You can find the recipe here. […]
LikeLike
[…] A batch of homemade gyoza, like these […]
LikeLike
[…] Gyoza with Ginger Soy Dipping […]
LikeLike
My hubby made them today for the both of us! So tasty! It was fun in the kitchen!
LikeLike
I bet they were devoured, they look delicious. I’m up for dumplings of any kind, and gyoza, with their delicate wrappers, are near the top of my list.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Frank, they were very tasty and convenient that they froze well. Great for drop-ins!
LikeLike
oh i could eat every single one of these! Love the filling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Mimi, they are quite easy to make, I can see myself making batches for the holidays.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing to think of all the machinations that go into presenting ‘appetizing’ food, and the irony of it. With food only looking fresh for a short time, I imagine the pressure it creates on the commercial side. Your gyoza look great Eva, I love those crispy fried bits and dunking them into the scrumptious gingery sauce – irresistible!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Kelly, there is absolutely no desire to snack or lick fingers on these jobs! Fortunately, we have ways to keep the food fresh on set as it sometimes sits for several hours!
LikeLike
Oh yes, I don’t think I would want to put the stylized food you mentioned in my mouth. The dumplings on the other hand look and I’m sure taste great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you kindly, Karen. Some people still want to eat the stylized food and are rather disappointed when I don’t let them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful gyoza, Eva! They do look very real and very delicious, indeed! And you’ve made your own dough! Wow! Gyoza are one of my favourite Japanese dishes, but in Tokyo Chinese restaurants, from my experience, make the very best gyoza ever (gyoza have Chinese origins, so it’s maybe logical…).
You have reminded me how I get nervous with my real home-cooked meals when I cannot manage to have a satisfying photo for my blog. I simply sometimes abandon the idea of posting an ugly photograph if it’s late or if the day is cloudy and dark… because I prefer to eat a fresh and warm dish!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind compliment, I actually tried to pleat them by hand and it was a disaster! That’s when I remembered ai have the handy device!
LikeLike
They look incredible Eva. I’m forever wanting to gyoza, but put off by not having and wrappers. Yum, yum.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks David, the wrappers were relatively eady to make.
LikeLike
These look great! I bet the original recipe would use pork rather than turkey. I’ve made gyoza by cooking them in a frying pan with some water added to do both stages of the cooking process in the same vessel. I think your method of steaming first is easier and I will try it next time.
You are so right about the food styling — blog food gets eaten so not only can we not use the tricks that will make it look great but inedible, but also there is not so much time to do a lot of styling if we want to eat it while it is still warm. Unfortunately photos and words are the only ways to convey what the food is like in a blog — there is no flavor HTML!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your insights, Stefan. You are quite right, the original would have been pork but I had turkey so that’s how these babies were born. And they were delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Eva thats a sad fact isn’t it?. People wonder why there food doesn’t look like the ads or tv. On the other hand i am not sure your Gyozas could ever look anything but delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your comment, Tania. They were quite delicious indeed.
LikeLike
Love dumplings of all kinds. These look terrific. And I’m with Angie — I want the fried one! I’ve read a couple of books aimed at professional food stylists — fascinating stuff, and I learned a few presentation ideas. But I definitely eat all my heroes, so none of the inedible tricks for me. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, John. It’s definitely a fascinating industry.
LikeLike
I’ve heard about all the tricks of the trade in food styling and directed one shoot with a food stylist long ago. So interesting how all of that is done…and sometimes a little nauseating! 🙂 These dumplings look delicious and steamed dumplings are especially a favorite of mine so I love the yin/yang, steamed/lightly fried aspect of these!
LikeLiked by 1 person
One thing for sure, Betsy, is that there is NEVER a chance of snacking or finger licking! Thanks for your comment.
LikeLike
It’s so surprising what they do to food to make it look edible although I guess that’s why the bought food (I’m thinking fast food places) never looks like the photos. I’d much rather these 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Lorraine. We were doing a shoot many years ago, for a famous Canadian fast food breakfast when the photographer bought that same item for everyone for breakfast, they were worlds apart!
LikeLike
I want that fried one 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Angie, I believe it has your name on it 😉
LikeLike