Brussel Sprouts, Fennel and Tempeh Gyoza

A mix for a late winter lunch. Or anytime really. Oishii.

Gently fry the sprouts and garlic. But use fresh fennel in the mix for a bit of zingy bite and crunch. The tempe helps to bind the filling and deepens the flavours. They’re pretty good!

For 30 pieces

Ingredients
1 packet (about 30 sheets) gyoza wrappers (gow gee wrappers are fine)
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil, for frying
300ml cold water, for steaming
2 teaspoons potato or corn starch, for the slurry to make the hanetsuki lattice base (‘with wings’).

Filling
300g Brussel sprouts, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Sesame oil
75 g tempeh, finely chopped
100g fennel, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons miso paste - I use white (白, or しろ) Shiro miso, which is mild. Use whatever you have, but ease off the salt if using red (赤, or あか) Aka miso.
Big pinches of salt and ground pepper.

Sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoons sesame oil
Pinch of salt
(optional add ins - white part of a shallot, ginger, chilli oil, minced garlic)

Method

For the filling

1. In a fry pan, add sesame oil and cook sprouts and garlic over medium heat until soft. Reserve to cool off.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cooled sprouts mix with the fennel, tempeh, sesame seeds, miso paste and salt and pepper.

3. Mix with hands until the miso is well combined.

To wrap the gyoza in a classic crescent shape….don’t be put off, it’s not hard…

1. Lay 2-3 wrappers on a board. Cover the remaining wrappers with a wet tea towel so they don’t dry out.

2. Add a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.

3. Fill a small bowl with water. Dip fingers in water and wet the edges of the wrapper.

4. Take a wrapper in one hand, fold over the filling with about 1/3 of the near side wrapper.

5. Hold the wrapper in your palm and pinch it at one end (I’m right handed, so I start from the left).

6. Starting from pinched end, use your index fingers to make a S-shaped pleat. Press down and seal the pleat.

7. Continue pleating to the other end. The near side should be flat and the far side pleated. Make sure it’s well-sealed with no air bubbles.

8. Place each gyoza on a floured plate or board. Push them down gently to make a flat bottom. Cover with plastic or a wet cloth.

   See ‘Wrap it’ link below for photo and options.

To pan-fry the gyoza in the hanetsuki style, with the fine lattice base…

1. Heat frying pan and add sesame oil. Cook on a medium-high heat.

2. Add gyoza to the pan when it’s just sizzling hot. Arrange in a spiral flower pattern.

3. After 5 minutes, or when the gyoza bases are brown and crispy, sprinkle with some sesame oil.

4. While gyoza are frying, make the starch slurry for the lattice base, by mixing 3 teaspoons of starch to 300 ml cold water.

5. Pour in the starch slurry about 100 ml for 10 gyoza and cover to steam for 5 minutes or so, or when the gyoza skins are translucent.

6. Open the lid and cook until any remaining water evaporates and allow the lattice to form as a fine dry crust.

7. Drizzle more sesame oil and adjust heat to help form the crust.

8. Remove from the heat when the base of the gyozas are brown and lattice is dry and crispy.

9. Cover with a plate slightly smaller than the pan. Pressing the plate onto the gyoza, flip upside down. Take care with any dripping oil

10. Serve in a single sheet, or lattice ‘with wings’!

Combine the sauce ingredients and serve!