GYOZA / JAPANESE DUMPLINGS

Gyoza are a favourite dish of my husbands'; he asks for them frequently. They require patience and time so I don't make them too often for him (and I don't want him to get too used to them!). My dumplings are nowhere near as expertly folded or presented as what you would receive at a Japanese restaurant, however the way I fold my gyoza is less fiddly and works well for me! Ps please note that wonton wrappers are not gluten-free and that different wonton pastry are different sizes. I prefer to buy wonton pastry from an Asian supermarket, as they are bigger than some of the pastry for sale at the supermarket. If buying pastry from the supermarket you may need to reduce the amount of mince mixture in each gyoza by 1 teaspoon. 

INGREDIENTS

Gyoza

• 500g lean pork, beef or chicken mince
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2-3 cm fresh ginger, grated
• 2 small carrots or 1 large, grated
• 1 cup wombok (chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 egg, preferably free range, yolk & white separated
• 1 x 330g packet of wonton pastry 
• pastry brush
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

COOKING

1. Place the mince, onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, wombok, soy sauce  and the yolk of the egg in a large bowl. Stir well to combine. 

2. Place the wonton wrappers on a clean surface. (If you are working with wrappers that have been in the freezer and are thawing, cover the wrappers with a damp tea-towel so they do not dry out). Place 2 teaspoons of the mince mixture in the centre of each wrapper. Brush the edges with egg white and fold over to close. You can pleat the edges of the wrapper with your fingers to seal or you can do as I like to do and fold the edges over each other, overlapping the edges and making a kind of rectangle. Repeat this process until all wrappers have been used or until the filling has run out. (If you end up with extra filling, roll the mince into balls and make meatballs!). 

3. Bring a large frying pan or saucepan with around 5cm of water to the boil. Once boiled, add as many gyoza as will fit without overcrowding. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover, cooking for 3 minutes. Remove the gyoza from the pan and continue this process until all gyoza is cooked. Remove the water from the pan and dry. 

4. Heat the olive oil in the same pan and swirl to coat. Cook the gyoza on just one side, for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place the fried gyoza on paper towel to absorb the oil and continue this process until all gyoza are lightly fried. 

Serve alone or alongside a dipping sauce; I often eat these as is as they are so delicious! 

Serves / 4 as a main / 8 as an entree 
Total Preparation time / 30 - 40 minutes 
Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes

x Emily 

OKONOMIYAKI - JAPANESE OMELETTE

This is easily the tastiest omelette I had ever made and the meal that I make most frequently in my kitchen. It is a great go to dish as you just stir all the ingredients together and c00k on the stove. I usually use whatever vegetables I have in the house, such as red cabbage, wombok, leek, grated zucchini, mushrooms, etc. The recipe below is very simple and is the one I have been using for the past several weeks. It's hard to eat this omelette without the kewpie mayonnaise so if you want to use some, use sparingly! I prefer this mayonnaise to kecap manis or Okonomiyaki sauce, as these sauces contain a lot of sugar. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 8 eggs, preferably free range
• 3/4 cup plain flour (I use gluten free) 
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 potato (300g), finely grated
• 1 large carrot, finely grated
• 1/4 cup of fresh herbs, roughly chopped, such as chives, coriander, basil, mint or a combination of a few 
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped 
• ground black pepper 
• 2 teaspoons rice bran oil
• Optional- Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise to serve (available in the asian food section in most supermarkets)

COOKING 

1. Beat together the eggs, then add the flour, water and grated potato. The consistency of the batter must be similar to that of pancake mixture. If need be, add more flour and/or water to achieve this. 

2. Add the carrot, herbs, spring onions and pepper to the batter and stir well to combine. 

3. Heat a medium non-stick frying pan on medium heat and add . Pour one quarter of the batter into the pan (this should cover most of the base of the pan). Cook for around 3-4 minutes each side. If it is too difficult to flip the entire omelette, break it into half. Continue this process until no batter remains. 

4. To serve- drizzle a small amount of kewpie mayonnaise over each omelette. (You can use as much or as little of these condiments as you wish. I find that a little goes a long way!). 

Serves / 4 / 1 omelette per person
Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 
Total Cooking time / under 20 minutes 

x Emily 

BEEF MASSAMAN NOODLE BOWL

This dish may seem to hot to eat during summer, but it has gone down a treat the last few times I have made it for dinner. The second time I used very ripe zucchini and broccoli which gave the dish some vegetable power. I need to again thank Heidi Swanson, a Californian cook and blogger, for this delicious recipe (the combination of flavours in the broth is one of the tastiest fusions of ingredients I have ever had the pleasure of eating). This dish is a cross between a curry and a soup and is a delightfully filling meal. Heidi makes her noodle bowl with tofu, however my fella demanded some meat. Substitute the 500g beef mince for 350g extra-firm tofu, cut into small pieces.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
• 1/2 large brown or red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon massaman curry paste
• 270g dried udon noodles
• 500g extra lean beef mince
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped into small cubes
• 1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets and stalk cut up into small pieces 
• 1 x 400ml tin light coconut milk
• 2 cups gluten-free vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari sauce
• 1 heaped tablespoon ground turmeric
• the juice of 1 large lime 
• 1/2 cup green shallots /green onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup crushed peanuts

COOKING 

1. Heat the oil in a large deep pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and curry paste to the pan and mash the paste until it is evenly combined with the other ingredients. 

2. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package instructions. (Usually this involves one boiling saucepan of water, placing the udon noodles in the pot and stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until the noodles are soft but not mushy). Remove from heat and drain with a colander or large sieve. 

3. Once the paste has been mashed and the garlic and onion are fragrant add the beef mince.  Stir the mince with a large metal spoon, breaking up any lumps that may occur as the beef cooks. Once the beef is brown and is mixed in with the paste, add the zucchini and broccoli and stir for a few minutes to combine and soften the vegetables slightly. Pour the coconut milk, stock, soy sauce and turmeric into the pan. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover with a lid and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until the broccoli is cooked. 

4. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the beef 'soup' into a large serving bowl. Add the noodles and lime juice and stir well to combine. Serve each noodle bowl topped with green shallots and crushed peanuts. 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 10-15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 20 minutes 

x Emily

JAPANESE SWEET POTATO

I eat sweet potato a lot; tossed into salads, roasted, cut into wedges, you name it, I’ve tried it. What I hadn’t tried until yesterday was sweet potato with a Japanese style dressing and once again I have Janella Purcell, author of ‘Janella’s Wholefood Kitchen’ to thank for that. I was pleasantly surprised by how well sweet potato, vinegar and soy sauce went together. For a little bit of crunch Janella adds 1 cup of cashews but the potato is magnificent on its own with the Asian style dressing.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped into 4cm pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil (in liquid form)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon rice malt syrup or honey 
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh coriander
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions 

COOKING 

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Toss the chopped sweet potato with oil and then bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and tender. 

2. Whilst the potato is roasting, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and syrup / honey in a small bowl and whisk well to combine. 

3. When the sweet potato is tender, remove from the oven and place in a serving bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and scatter with coriander and spring onion. 

Serves / 2 as a main or 4 as a side 

Total Preparation time / 10 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

x Emily 

STEAMED CHICKEN SALAD with SESAME SAUCE

I have been fighting dizzy spells and pounding headaches all weekend, however funnily enough I found myself irrationally hungry, even 10 minutes after just finishing a meal! And for some unexplained reason, when I am feeling under the weather I crave Japanese food. Udon, ramen, soba and rice noodles beckon to me. I desire ginger and chilli and all other food disgusts me. So I was consuming a lot of noodles, grated ginger, sesame seeds and rice on the weekend. One such dish; Steamed Chicken Salad with Sesame Sauce made the blog cut. A simple and quick recipe to prepare, which involves cooking chicken in the microwave (I was skeptical too at first) results in less cleaning up and more time to enjoy the freshness of the ginger, spring onions and sesame seeds. Believe it or not, this dish made me feel much better! A unique take on salad by the Japanese. Recipe from ‘Japanese’ cookbook by Australian Women’s Weekly. 

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 medium lebanese cucumbers (250g), halved lengthways & cut into chunks
• 2 spring onions (50g), finely chopped and white & green pieces separated
• 250-300g chicken breast fillets, cut into even sized pieces (around 5cm) 
• 1 tablespoon mirin seasoning 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, finely grated 

Sesame sauce 

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli paste
• 2cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, finely grated 
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed 
• 1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted & roughly ground in a mortar & pestle into a paste
• 1 heaped teaspoon sesame seeds

COOKING 

1. Place chicken pieces in a medium heatproof bowl and toss well with mirin and sesame oil. Scatter ginger and white part of the spring onion over the chicken and cook, covered, in the microwave for 4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove, cool for 5 minutes and reserve the cooking liquid. 

2. Whilst chicken is cooling, make the sesame sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients and 2 tablespoons of the reserved chicken cooking liquid and whisking together. 

3. Shred cooled chicken with your hands. Halve the chicken and cucumber pieces and place in two medium bowls. Drizzle with green part of the spring onion and sauce and serve. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 12 minutes 

x Emily 

RAMEN NOODLE SOUP

Continuing on my noodle journey, I explored the Japanese noodle dish Ramen last night. As the weather has cooled down ever so slightly at night (for this week at least) I decided some soup would be delightful to slurp whilst sitting in the wind on my patio. Ramen is a wheat noodle which is usually served as a broth or soup and is flavoured with miso soup or soy sauce. Adding broccoli to a ramen dish may have the Japanese turning up their noses, as green onions, seaweed, sliced pork and even corn are the most popular toppings. But to hell with convention. My broccoli’s expiration date was coming up and it added so much-needed vitamins and iron to the dish. This was an extremely simple soup to make and one of the stand out dishes I have made recently. If the weather is cooling down where you are, give it a try!

INGREDIENTS

• 270g ramen noodles
• 1 head broccoli, cut into even-sized florets
• 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, preferably Massel brand 
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 2 heaped tablespoons sesame seeds, plus 1 teaspoon sprinkled on each serving 
• 20g dried shallots

COOKING 

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add ramen noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Drain noodles with cold water in a colander, reserving boiling water in a large serving bowl.  After making sure that the boiling water equals 6 cups water, add stock powder and stir well. Place noodles in the hot stock (if using ready-made stock, you do not need to reserve the boiling water- but note that ready-made stock is much dearer to buy!). 

2. Meanwhile, steam broccoli until just tender. (If you have a steamer this is very easy, however if you do not bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, place a colander above the water with the broccoli florets and cover with the saucepan lid. Steam until just tender. Add broccoli to the soup. 

3. Add bean sprouts, chilli flakes, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and soy sauce to the soup. Stir gently to combine. Pour soup into four deep bowls and sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon sesame seeds and 5g dried shallots. Serve warm. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes maximum 

x Emily