Japanese Cooking - Gyoza

 

Hey y`all,

today I`mma tell you about my dinner today (WHICH I LEARNED TO MAKE WOOOOO) - 餃子　(gyoza- pot stickers)

Okay, so gyoza isn`t actually Japanese food, it`s Chinese - but it`s so popular in Japan that it might as well be.

Gyoza are little pastry parcels of meat and onion, and they are DELISH. I love them. And cos I am so nice, I will share with you a recipe! :D

What you will need are:

• Minced beef (one pack should do it, yknow like what you get in Tesco)
• One long green onion
• One long leek
• Pinch of ginger
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• Drop of Olive Oil
• Sake (Japanese rice wine, can get it in Asia Mart etc)
• Gyoza Wrappers*

Of course, in Ireland and other Western countries it`s quite difficult to get pre-made Gyoza Wrappers so here`s a video.

Ok, so once you have the wrappers, you`ll make the filling. Chop the leek and onion into very small pieces and feck it all into a bowl with the meat, salt, pepper, ginger, a drop of oil and a drop of sake. Mix and mush it all together (with your hands) until the meat is smooth and pink rather than lumpy and red.

Then, this bit is hard to explain, so another video is in order methinks. Skip to about 2:10.

Each wrapper should have no more than a teaspoon of filling in it - otherwise, it won`t close properly and the flavours won`t be locked in.

Now, put a bit of oil in a pan and put the gyoza into it, flat side down. Cover the pan and fry on a low heat. When the bottoms are browned enough that you can see the edges beginning to brown, take off  the lid. Put some water and oil on top of the gyoza and turn the heat to a high heat. Cover them again. Now just wait for all the water to vaporize and BAM! You`ve got a delicious snack :)

Can`t feckin rotate this

Nom nom nom!

We also had crab. It was yummy. UNDER THE SEA~

Hello also to fangirl @Aquinasaur :)

Peace out homies!
クイーヴァ
Caoimhe

Japanese Snacks #1

Whattup crackas,

Today I`m gonna tell you about some Japanese snacks :D

This is my new favourite snack food- カレーパン　(curry bread). I get it usually once a week as a treat for lunch (I had it today om nom nom nom)

If you like curry as much as I do, you`d love this. It`s basically fried bread with curry sauce and sometimes vegetables or cheese inside. It`s light but filling, and absolutely delicious. I intend to bring a suitcase home filled with it. It`s also cheap (￥180 for a large scone-sized piece - about 1.50euro)

Here`s another one I love love love - 抹茶キトカツ　(green tea Kit Kats)

Don`t be put off by the colour- it`s amazing. It tastes like white chocolate with a hint of sweet green tea and awwwwh it`s divine I love it <3 Also, probably because of the heat here (36C today) the chocolate is quite soft, making it even nicer to eat :)

Something I`m eating lots of in this heat is a more traditional Japanese treat - かき氷　（shaved ice)

It`s essentially a Slushee with thicker pieces of ice, so you eat it rather than drink. It`s just plain shaved ice with a flavoured syrup poured over the top - typically strawberry or green tea, but yesterday I had a Ramune flavoured one, so anything goes really. Sometimes milk is added to the syrup to give it a more ice-creamy flavour. It`s lovely and great to cool you down in this intense humidity.

Those funny looking things are actually chocolate dipped bananas - a very popular street food in the summer. They`ve got a few flavours- chocolate, strawberry, green tea, etc. They are insanely sweet, not something I`m a big fan of. They`re nice for the first  bite, but after that you can practically feel your teeth rotting...

Here`s another traditional Japanese snack - だんご (dango)

Dango are balls of rice dough flavoured with different things, such as green tea powder or anko (sweet bean paste). Those pictured are in a sweet soy sauce type thing, and are easily my favourite. They`re delicious and light and nom nom nom~

This last one isn`t really Japanese- vanilla pudding

but I like this brand cos Clint Eastwood is on the jar

Similarly, Boss Coffee

has Tom Selleck smoking a pipe

Speaking of Tom Selleck, please enjoy this photograph of him, the magnificent specimen of a man

Night gang,
クイーヴァ
Caoimhe