A few weeks ago I celebrated a birthday. I invited only a small group of people, two of whom happen to be married. One ended up being legitimately exhausted, and she sent in her stead an amazing little backup cake. K works at a bakery, and does work on cakes, so this was quite an exciting gift.

Let me tell you something, people. You better believe your eyes. This cake was COMPLETELY (even the BOTTOM) covered in rainbow sprinkles! It was so great that I even left the rest of my extremely delicious chocolate cake covered in salted caramel icing with the staff of the restaurant we ate at. Granted, they earned it by serving us all night and keeping the margaritas flowing; we even got some specialty cinnamon tequila.

1 pack of 50 or more wonton wrappers (square)
1/3 lb ground turkey thigh meat
1/3 lb ground pork
1 green onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced & mushed into a paste
1 T ginger, ground into a paste
1 carrot, grated finely
1/4 head fresh cabbage, sliced thinly, tossed in salt, let to sit for 15 min, rinsed & drained/squeezed dry
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 T sake
2 T soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Mix all ingredients, adding the liquids last. To assemble the pyramids, place 1 T of filling in the center of the wrapper. Spray the wrapper with water using a spray bottle, then lift up two corners next to each other and begin assembling the pyramid. Pinch to close, try not to include too much air.

Cook the same way as the pork & shrimp gyoza. OK to freeze as well.

Use the same dipping sauce as the shrimp & pork gyoza too.

1 pack gyoza wrappers (round, about 50 per pack)
1/3 lb crab meat
1/3 lb large scallops, diced
1/3 lb deveined/peeled shrimp, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 carrot, shredded finely
1/4 head napa cabbage fresh, sliced finely, salted, left aside to wilt, rinsed, and drained/squeezed dry
3-4 cloves garlic, minced and mushed into a paste
1 generous T of ginger, grated into a paste
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 T minced cilantro
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 T sake
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything together, adding the liquids last. Using a small spoon, put about 1 heaping/rounded tsp onto each gyoza wrapper. Using a spray bottle, dampen the open face of the wrapper, and gently fold in half, sealing the filling and not air. Gently pull the sides/lobes of the half moon together to create the shape you see in the photos above.

Cook the same way as the shrimp & pork gyoza, or steam above simmering water until cooked through (you can fill your colander with a layer of lettuce, cabbage, or some other similar item in order to create a steamer if you do not own one).

For the Dipping Sauce

2 parts soy sauce
1 part seasoned rice vinegar
3/4 part yuzu juice
1/4 part chili oil

It’s one of the things that white people like…and I had a lot of fun making three kinds of dumplings over the weekend, freezing them, and having them last my boyfriend until.. yeah, lunch on Tuesday. 200 pieces. The man is a machine.

I’d recommend a finely misting spray bottle for these, folks–I converted an old hair product bottle by washing it in vinegar a few times.

Shrimp & Pork Gyoza

50+ pack of gyoza wrappers (yeah, I’m lazy, when you fold 50 peices of these you don’t want to make 50 wrappers too)
1/3 lb shrimp (deveined, peeled, chopped)
1/3 lb pork
1 green onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced and then mushed into a paste
1 full T of fresh ginger, grated into a paste
1/2 carrot, grated finely
1/4 head napa cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 T sake
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Prep your ingredients by first chopping the cabbage and putting it in a bowl, mixing with 1/2 tsp salt. Let it sit for a good 15 minutes and wilt. When you’re ready to use it, rinse it and squeeze excess water out until reasonably dry.

Mix everything together, adding the liquids last. Use a small spoon to put 1 rounded tsp or so onto the center of each gyoza. Spray with your handy water spray bottle, and gently fold the wrapper in half, keeping the back half flat and folding the front half–sealing in the filling and not so much air. Check out this handy guide on how to shape the gyoza, except that I make 4-6 of them on my cutting board at a time and go through to fold them up all at once.

To cook, heat a nonstick to medium high heat, and spray with canola oil. Arrange the gyoza once the pan is hot in a circle to fit the most in (see picture). Cook for about 2 minutes, until golden on the bottom.

Add about 1/2 a coffee cup of water, or enough to coat the whole bottom of the pan but not make the dumplings “boil”. Cover immediately and reduce heat to medium; let them steam for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Remove the lid and if you desire them more crispy, flip them over to cook another 1-2 minutes. Serve!

Also, you can absolutely freeze these while on a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper or a silpat, for about 30 min, and then put them into a freezer bag. They last beautifully even when frozen raw, uncooked. You can then pull them out and cook them just like they were fresh, but with a tiny bit longer steaming time.

For the dipping sauce

2 parts soy sauce
1 part seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 part chili oil

Fromage Blanc with herbs from Cowgirl Creamery (well actually, from somewhere else, but they carry it?), heirloom cherry/grape tomatoes from capay organics, olive oil, chili flakes, homemade pasta dough with yolks.

FAIL on recipe supply, I’m simply not in the mood and this one is overdue.