Gyoza (Japanese Potsticker) Wrappers

Before You Start

1. I highly encourage you to weigh your flour using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need. 1 US cup of flour weighs 4.25 oz (120 g).
2. Gather all the ingredients.

To Make the Dough

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
2. Add the salt to the just-boiled hot water and stir until completely dissolved.
3. Add the hot water to the flour, a little at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula. Mix until the flour and water are combined completely. If the flour is still not incorporated, add more hot water, ½ Tbsp at a time, until you can form the mixture into a ball. You will eventually need to use your hands to do this. Tip: different brands of flour absorb water differently, so use more hot water as needed; I used about 120–150 ml.
4. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, the texture of the dough will be much smoother. Use a dough scraper to cut the ball of dough in half (doesn‘t have to be an equal size).
6. Shape each half into a long log about 1½ inches (3.8 cm) in diameter, although it doesn‘t have to be perfect, especially if you use a cookie cutter later. Wrap each log with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 30 minutes.

To Roll the Wrappers

1. Unwrap the dough. Sprinkle a little potato starch on the work surface and cut each log crosswise into ¾ inch (2 cm) wide pieces. Since we’ll be using a cookie cutter, don’t worry if each piece of dough is a slightly different size. Tip: If you plan to freeze the wrappers, please use potato starch or cornstarch for dusting and rolling, as the wrappers tend to stick to each other if you use flour.
2. It‘s super important to cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel at all times to prevent it from drying.
3. Roll each piece of dough into a ball shape.
4. Press the ball onto the work surface.
5. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough, but DO NOT flatten the TOP and BOTTOM edges. This is the trick to making a nice round shape.
6. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat rolling the dough. Try to roll out the dough into a thin circle. If the dough is hard to roll out or shrinks back, let it rest a bit to relax the gluten and try again.
7. Cooker cutter (optional): If you want a perfectly round shape for your wrappers, cut your rolled dough circle with a 3-inch (8 cm) cookie cutter. If the dough rolls back, leave it for a few seconds, then try again to cut the dough. Remove the excess dough scraps and cover them with a damp towel. Later, combine all the scraps if they still squish together and haven’t dried out. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process.
8. Sprinkle each wrapper with potato starch and stack the wrappers. Make sure to cover them with a damp kitchen towel as you continue rolling the remaining dough. Once you‘ve rolled out all the wrappers, they are ready to use. You can also freeze or refrigerate the wrappers to use later.

To Store the Wrappers for Later

1. Wrap the stacked gyoza wrappers with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for about 3–4 days and in the freezer for up to a month. Prior to use, defrost in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for 60 minutes (depending on the amount and room temperature). Do not defrost in the microwave.

To Make Gyoza

1. You can use these Homemade Gyoza Wrappers to make Gyoza, vegetarian/vegan Vegetable Gyoza, Chicken Shiso Gyoza, Gyoza with Wings (Hanetsuki Gyoza) and Korean-style Kimchi Gyoza. If you‘re new to making Japanese potstickers, see my tutorial on How to Fold Gyoza.