GYOZA aka CHINESE DUMPLINGS

I'm so tired today.. I've been cooking for the whole afternoon, well, on and off, but my  oven was on for a few hours, I roasted turkey breast, we bought one big breast, about 10 lbs at Safeway's it was on sale, I know my hubby loves turkey breast, so when he looked at it, I suggested him to buy.. nice, right? lol .. so today I had to pay for that, I knew that I could always let him cook, but he had something else to do, like his daily bike ride, or browsing the internet, yeah right.. so with his permission I cooked the turkey breast and I 'suggested' what to marinate with, like usual, he said 'okay', he was happy to cut some Rosemary and Oregano from his tiny garden.. so I marinated it with mustard, sea salt, rosemary, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice, I rubbed the meat under the skin too.. he suggested to stuff it with potatoes, a whole orange and onion.. it went in the oven on 325'F

Like usual, it's my habit to cook several dishes when I use my oven, so today I made some Chinese style pork jerky per a friend's request, it was not hard, but it needed attention, I had to guard the oven every 10 minutes to turn my pans..so while roasting my turkey breast, I baked my jerky, I managed to finish both at the same time..

After all were cooked, I prepared my husband dinner, he had the honor to slice the breast, I did a good job on roasting it, it was so succulent and tender, I cooked it until the inside temperature reaches 165 to 170.. oh I could see his happy face, and it makes me happy, he was imagining turkey sandwich, turkey burrito, soup and more.. it's good for me too, easier for me to plan our daily meal, at least for this week.. happy dance :)

As for me.. I lost my appetite, I think the turkey was too much to look at, even only looking at it made my stomach fulled.. I'm gonna grab pbj sandwich later :)

sweet pork jerky 

Ooops.. what I want to talk today is my lunch.. I made some GYOZA, it's a kind of Chinese Dumplings which actually is Japanese style, but today I made my own style, with all the ingredients I have in my house.. here is how I did it

What I need:
- Gyoza wrapper, this time I got the right one for it
- 8 oz ground meat, I used ground pork
- 4 oz of shrimps, peel and coarsely chopped ( I like to taste my shrimps in my dumplings)
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1/2 inch of fresh ginger, grate it
- 1 tsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of fried garlic oil
- 1 tsp of tapioca starch
- black pepper and sugar to taste
- some chives, roughly chopped
- green onion, finely chopped

homegrown chives 

gyoza wrapper

What I do:
- combine all the ingredients, stir until well blended
- grab 1 piece of gyoza wrapper, place 1 tsp of the meat mixture on the center of it
- brush water on the edges of the wrapper
- carefully fold the wrapper and pinch the edges ( this time I successfully pleated it.. happy dance.. again :))
- place them on a container, try not to crowd them, cover with damp towel
- heat 1 cm oil in a pan (with lid)
- place gyoza carefully, not too crowded in the pan, lower the heat to medium, cook about 3 to 4 minutes (depend on the heat), then turn it over, carefully pour 1/4 cup of water in the pan, cover the pan with the lid, cook for another 4 minutes, uncover the pan, cook again until the water is evaporated.
- or pan fry it, watch the heat, it browns so fast, maybe 3 minutes each side

the brown ones were pan fried 

up, close and personal 

Serve with chili sauce, today I used 1 tbsp of oyster sauce + 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce ( store bought) and 1/2 tsp of vinegar..

I'll stop now.. even typing this is tiring me too..  aah.. wait.. still have to clean and wash the dishes and the pans.. sigh.. but..  then I'll be a couch potato, watching my fave TV shows.. nite nite