Vegan Crispy Wing Gyoza

Vegetable Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) packed with umami flavor. Pan-fried to golden-brown perfection with crispy, paper-thin wings.

Japanese potstickers with crispy wings like this is also known as Hanetsuki Gyoza (羽根つき餃子). As the name suggests, these are marked by a crispy, paper-thin bottom layer that, when broken apart, make each individual dumpling look like it has wings. The satisfaction when biting into one of these is just immeasurable. This is easily my favorite dish to order at dumpling restaurants when I was in Tokyo, Japan.

No plate of gyoza is complete without a proper dipping sauce (although you’ll see that this recipe barely needs one). I typically go for equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar, with a touch of toasted sesame oil. I’ve also been loving a good drizzle of chili oil, as in the picture above.


You may find it odd that I am not using many of the typical ingredients found in vegan and vegetarian gyoza, such as tofu, cabbage, or textured vegetable protein. However, I’ve been finding them a bit out of place in my dumplings recently — they really only act as fillers that have no particular flavor. As opposed to using such fillers, I’ve drastically increased the amount of flavorful mushrooms and vegetables to yield a more flavorful dumpling, rather than a bland one that relies on dipping sauces.


Vegan Crispy Wing Gyoza

5 from 2 votes
Recipe by George L. Course: LunchCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Medium
Servings

40

dumplings
Prep time

1

hour 

20

minutes
Cooking time

15

minutes

Vegetable Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) packed with umami flavor. Pan-fried to golden-brown perfection with crispy, paper-thin wings.

Ingredients

  • 40 gyoza dumpling wrappers

  • Filling
  • 12 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated & minced

  • 10 grams dried black fungus, rehydrated & finely sliced

  • 12 scallions, finely chopped

  • 1 yellow onion, finely minced

  • 60 grams carrots, finely minced

  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced

  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely minced

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon fine salt

  • 2 teaspoons mushroom bouillon

  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

  • 1 pinch white pepper

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)

  • Crispy Wings (per 6-8 gyoza)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)

  • 50 grams water

  • 3 grams (1 teaspoon) flour

  • 3 grmas (1 teaspoon) cornstarch

  • 1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) rice vinegar (or distilled vinegar)

  • 1 pinch fine salt

  • Dipping Sauce
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoon rice vinegar

  • 1/8 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (optional)

Directions

  • Prepare Filling. Place dried shiitake mushrooms and dried black fungi in a bowl. Add boiling hot water and soak for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can prepare all vegetables as instructed. After 15 minutes, take out the mushrooms and black fungus and cut as instructed.
  • Fry the Filling. In a large pan or wok, heat up vegetable oil on medium heat. Start the sauté by frying ginger and garlic until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Then add the yellow onions and fry until translucent and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Follow with carrots, shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, scallions, and continue to fry a little bit before deglazing with soy sauce. Season with salt, mushroom bouillon, white pepper, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Taste to adjust seasoning and optionally, finish by sprinkling on some cornstarch. Note: Cornstarch gives the filling more body and helps soak up excess moisture. I always add it if there are vegetables in the filling with high water content like cabbage. For this recipe, you can choose to omit it. Place finished filling in the refrigerator to chill before wrapping.
  • Fold the Dumplings. There are many ways to fold gyoza dumplings, my preferred method is as follows: 1) Place about 1 teaspoon of packed filling in the center of the wrapper. 2) Wet one finger with water and use it to wet the outer circle of the wrapper. If you’re using store-bought wrappers, make sure to use enough water as those wrappers tend to be drier. 3) Fold the wrapper in half over the filling, and crimp only the very top center. 4) Starting from one side (I tend to do the right side first as I am right-handed), start making pleats towards the middle, about 3-4 pleats. 5) Take the other side and pleat it towards the middle as well, making sure that the first pleat on either sides overlap. 6) Now the dumpling should have naturally fallen into a crescent moon shape. Shape it a little more as needed. Place completed dumplings on parchment paper and loosely cover them while you prepare the rest. If you are not cooking them immediately, see notes for freezing instructions.
  • Prepare Slurry (for crispy wings). In a bowl, whisk together water, flour, cornstarch, vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until just combined and set aside.
  • Fry the Dumplings. In a small non-stick pan, heat up about 1 tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Note: oil in the pan is essential for thin & crispy wings — don’t skimp on this! Arrange dumplings in the pan in a spiral (I usually go for 6-8 at a time) and fry until their bottoms are lightly browned, around 1-2 minutes. Then, add your prepared slurry, quickly cover with a lid, and cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until the wing/lattice becomes lightly golden and crispy. Use a spatula to check if all the edges are released and if they are, place an inverted plate over and flip the whole pan over. Serve warm with dipping sauce as well as la-yu (Japanese chili oil). I also like it with Chinese-style chili oil (homemade recipe HERE).

Notes

  • Freezer Option. I typically make a lot of these gyoza dumplings at once and freeze them for later. To freeze, place dumplings on a parchment-lined tray (cover with plastic wrap) and flash freeze for about 30 minutes. Then, just place them in a ziploc or airtight bag for freezing. Frozen dumplings do not have to be thawed before cooking. Just add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.
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Lynn
2 years ago

Looks fabulous!

Susannah
Susannah
2 years ago

I tried making these yesterday! It was my first try at making any type of dumpling. The end product tasted amazing and after a few mistakes with how to fold them they looked amazing as well!! So far I’ve tried making these and the dan dan noodles, thank you for sharing your awesome recipes! 😊

Samantha
Samantha
2 years ago

This was the first try with anything off of this website (or the Instagram) and I fell in love! The first time I made them, I minced all by hand which gave me this gorgeous texture although it was a little too big and made more than 40….The second time I used a food processor and that gave me the correct portions. Folding them was quite calming and I enjoyed working with my hands! Either way, the flavor provoked a cozy atmosphere and was loved by my family. Great recipe, the instructions in regards to the timing of the slurry… Read more »

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Anandpreet Sandhar
Anandpreet Sandhar
2 years ago

loved the recipe! thanks