My Favorite Vegetarian/Vegan Gyoza-Recipe

Today I am sharing my recipe for homemade Gyoza without meat. They are vegetarian, but I used a bit of Ricotta, an egg and butter. If you want to make vegan Gyoza instead, please check out the tips i included in the list of supplies. I used Tofu as a protein and paired it with mushrooms and onions to give it the needed umami-flavor. For the crunch I included cabbage, so chop it as finely as you want it. And last but not least you will find the addition of an grilled tomato - this brings an addition of flavor and makes this recipe one you can't get enough of. So make enough for everyone, because even meatlovers will be asking for seconds! :)

For the wrapping:

1 package of Gyoza wrappers or a batch of fresh homemade Gyoza wrappers

For the filling:

1/2 onion finely diced

150g firm Tofu finely crumbled

150g white mushrooms finely diced

1 tomato

1 clove of garlic minced

150g cabbage diced to your liking

1 Ts Salt

About 50 g of butter (for vegan Gyozas, use your favourite vegetable oil - mine would be olive oil, but you can also use sesame or peanut oil to have a more "asian" flavour)

1 Spoon of ricotta (leave it out for vegan Gyozas)

1 Egg (leave it out or change it to a bit of oil for vegan Gyozas)

Soysauce

1 Ts Garam Masala

To cook and serve:

Vegetable Oil

Any Sauce you like

Start with melting a spoon of butter or heating the same amount of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Sauté your onions in the butter and put in the mushrooms. Stir it before you add the tofu to the mix. Fry everything until the mushrooms are no longer shrinking and the onions are golden. Now add a bit of soy sauce, the salt and about one teaspoon of Garam Masala. Give it another good stir and let it sit aside to cool.

Now for your tomato: Bring water to boil in a pot or a kettle and cut the skin of the tomato at the bottom. Put it in a heat resistent container and pour the boiling water over it. Please be careful! Wait a moment and make sure, that all parts of the tomato are covered. Then take the tomato out and pull of the skin. Cut it in half, remove the stem and take out a nonstick pan. Melt another spoonful of butter and wait till it is hot enough to lightly brown. Put in your tomato and wait for a moment. Let it brown from all sides. Then take the pan from the heat and let it sit for a moment.

Put the tomato and the brown butter from the pan into a bowl. Put in an egg and the Ricotta. Mix everything with blender. Then add the other ingredients for the filling: The mushroom mixture, the cabbage and the garlic. Taste it and give it a little bit more salt. It should be a tiny bit more salty, than you would usually like it - but still tasty!

Now it is time to fold Gyozas: Take a wrapper in your hand and put about one Teaspoon of filling on it. Then wet the rand with water, before you start pressing it together and fold it into the usual Gyoza shape. As you can see in the picture, i am not very good at folding Gyozas, so please go with any technique you like - the important part is that it is fully closed without any air pockets. :)

Tip: It will take quite a while to fold all Gyozas, so plan accordingly. You can also fold them a few days in advance and freeze the uncooked Gyozas. Just add a bit of time and water in the next step. It is better to fold them when you are relaxed, especially if you are doing this for the first time. So play your favorite music and just start folding.

Now for the final step before you can taste your Gyozas: Heat a non stick baking pan with a bit of vegetable oil and gently put in your Gyozas. Let them fry for a minute, so the bottom is really crispy. Then add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and close it with a lid. Turn down the heat to medium and wait for all the water to evaporate. Let the steam escape from the pan and take out your Gyozas. Serve them hot with any sauce you may like - my favorite is a sweet chilli sauce or the traditional Gyoza sauce (just mix soy sauce and vinegar with a bit of chili).

Have a nice meal!