Yankee Doodle Dumpling run

30 of us gathered to celebrate the 4th of July (as Radar pointed out, it may have been the 5th for us, but it was still the 4th in the US of A) with a very enjoyable jaunt around Southbank and beyond - and then some really memorable Japanese food. We loved it! The US team may have beaten the Japanese at soccer...but there's no competition between hotdogs and home-cooked Gyoza dumplings!

So without more ado, and with many thanks to In Your Dreams, here's her recipe for Gyoza:

Gyoza Wrappers come in packs of 30 and are available at most Asian Grocery stores. They are different from Chinese Dumpling Wrappers.  The stores I go to are:
http://www.genkimart.com.au/
http://www.dandajapan.com.au/

Ingredients 

(for 70-80 Gyoza - I usually buy 2 to 3 packs of wrappers.)
Pork mince - 500g
Onion - 1
Cabbage - Half
Ginger - about same amount as garlic
Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg - a  sprinkle

Method 

• Use a food processor to chop Onion, Cabbage, Ginger and Garlic, then mix all together with Pork mince (mix by hand.)
• Wrap the above in the wrappers.
• Put some oil (I usually use olive oil or sesame oil) on a pan, and place wrapped gyoza in the pan. Place a lid and cook with high heat.  If you put gyoza too close to each other they will stick to each other, so I usually leave some space between gyoza.
• After a few minutes, when the pan becomes hot and starts grilling the gyoza, pour a cup of hot water all over the gyoza, put the lid back and cook on mid-high for 5-8 min.
• Gyoza will be swollen with the water and steamed.
• When the bottoms of the gyoza start burning a little, the gyoza are done.

Notes:

• Chinese chives should be also be used in the standard gyoza mix, but since I cannot find the right ones in Australia, I leave them out.  
• You can put anything you like in the mix as long as you can wrap and grill it. Seafood gyoza, using prawn or crab, is good.
• Wrapping may require some practice.  I started wrapping gyoza when I was probably 4 or 5 yrs old.  It is a popular “family” food in Japan.

Yum!!

It was good to welcome 3 visitors, including Radar and Bedpan. It's hard to believe that they managed to get lost on the walk...but there you are. Here they are with our Japanese American hares.

Hash jeweller Jamesbondage had prepared Hash namelaces for new members Footsie and Groupie, and these were presented in the circle.

We bade farewell to Kermit again for a while. We sincerely hope she doesn't get eaten by a crocodile and we look forward to hearing of her adventures in the north.

More of the group:

Le W*nk, in his version of the Stars and Stripes, reveals the secrets of the universe to an enthralled audience:

Next run details
When: Sunday 12th July, 4 pm
Where: Meet in J C Slaughter Falls car park (about half way along). A map!
Hares: Gastrick and Miss Fit

On, on!