DIY Gyoza Wrappers + My New Apartment

Isn’t it amazing what you can do with a little flour and water? I wanted to make pot-stickers, but I’m not that big a fan of factory-made wonton and gyoza wrappers, so I decided to make my own. They turn out great and are really worth the time and effort. To me, wonton wrappers are thin and tasteless, not to mention full of preservatives; however, these home-made wrappers are chewy and toothsome, adding great texture to the pot-sticker experience. You can steam them or fry them, and with a tasty dipping sauce you have an awesome appetizer or full-on meal. Just don’t eat all 48 by yourself, ok?

Mix together the flour and water, knead, rest, and form into two cylinders about 12 inches long. Each cylinder is sliced into 24 rounds with a serrated knife.

Each round is flattened with your palms into a little disk about ¼-inch thick, then rolled with a rolling pin into a 3-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Now, I need you to do as I say, not as I do. Don’t overlap your wrappers. Guess what happened… yep, some of them stuck together. Ugh. So put them on floured parchment, in a single layer, sprinkled with a little more flour, then another layer of parchment, flour and more wrappers. Now you will be good to go, not trying to separate stuck-together dough circles. Mostly I got them apart. Only lost a couple.

Now for the fun part… my new apartment. In January I moved from a three bedroom house into a two bedroom apartment. It has been an adjustment, especially having to be aware how much noise I am making and at what time. No more playing the piano or running my KitchAid at 3:00 in the morning. Dang. It’s interesting how I have the same stuff, just arranged in a new way, like in the house my wall of cookbooks was in the dining room, and now they’re in the living room. My dining room table and chairs are stored in my garage, and I’m using a really old pedestal table in the kitchen that has been in my family for about 70 years. It has a rich and varied history and is deserving of a post all its own.

My kitchen was completely remodeled with new cabinetry and appliances just before I moved in. I am the first one to cook on my stove, which is a total first for me. Initially I was almost afraid to cook on it, loath to get grease in the cracks or cooked on food. I’m over that now, thank goodness. I really like having my shelves of equipment right there, and the bookcase of photo prop dishes. You can’t see it in the picture, but there is a window above the table that faces south, so that is where I am doing my shooting. All in all, the kitchen is a very happy place.

And while I’ve got you here, my captive audience, I want to tell you about something interesting. My Twisted Cookie photo is now on David Libovitz Pinterest Cookie Recipes page. Cool, huh?

 Print Recipe

DIY Gyoza Dumpling Wrappers

Makes 48 3-inch wrappers

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup water

1. Place flour in large bowl. Add ½ cup water and mix with wooden spoon until shaggy dough forms.

2. Knead in bowl, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time, up to 4 tablespoons, until dough is supple and forms a smooth springy ball. Cover bowl with towel and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

3. Put dough on floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Cut dough ball in two and form each half into a 12-inch long cylinder about 1 inch in diameter.

4. Cut each cylinder with a serrated knife into 24 rounds. With floured hands, flatten each round with palms to about 1/4-inch thick.

5. On floured surface, roll each disc with a rolling pin into a 3-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick.

6. Place rounds on floured tray in one layer and sprinkle lightly with additional flour. Cover with parchment and add additional layers of wrappers and parchment.

7. Fill wrappers and steam or fry.