Gyoza: The Ultimate Dumpling Cookbook: 50 Recipes from Tokyo's Gyoza King - Pot Stickers, Dumplings, Spring Rolls and More!

by Paradise Yamamoto, Debra Samuels (Foreword), Ishiguro Kengo (Afterword)

Whether eaten in an exclusive restaurant or at a humble street stall, gyoza dumplings are the ultimate Asian comfort food.

Dumplings are surprisingly easy to make once you learn a few basic techniques. Step-by-step instructions, photos, and helpful tips show you how to wrap dumplings like the "Gyoza King," Paradise Yamamoto, himself--even if it's your first try.

This book contains 50 delicious dumpling recipes,
With a wide array of shapes, fillings, and customizable options, these recipes are sure to please picky eaters and gyoza connoisseurs alike! Impress friends and family with these satisfying and easy-to-make morsels.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Japan, Nonfiction

120 pages, Hardcover

Published December 4, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is aesthetically pleasing. I would categorize it more as a coffee-table or art book over a cookbook. Yes, everything is explained to you so you can follow along, but unless you have chopping, frying, and folding experience, I don't think your dumplings will look like the beautiful pictures in this book. Many of the more exotic dumplings even state that the ingredients for the recipe may be hard to find unless you are in Japan or at a specialty grocer. There are substitutions provided if you want to make that particular dumpling and are facing difficulty with sourcing the ingredients. I read this as an ebook and the instructions for folding are too small. Each dumpling recipe takes up a two-page spread, so if there's an extra prep-process, those instructions are also written very small and can't be read in e-book form. I found the gyoza in this book to be more artful than appetizing. I didn't know about the other folds a dumpling could be shaped into besides the crescent fold, so I found this cookbook to be fun entertainment, but not very practical.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

The directions for the main meat mix and wrapping were done pictorially. However, most of the pictures looked creepy when done and less inspiring actual recipes.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

As I began reading Debra Samuels' introduction, I was quite pleased, thinking I was in good hands and that this book would be full of revelations for the ultimate dumplings.

Yamamoto-san insists that we not use pre-ground pork. "Chop your own," he admonished me. I did, and was astonished by the difference it made in the perfectly seasoned pork and mushroom gyoza I laid before grateful diners. (Debra Samuels, Foreward)

This seemed like excellent advice. Sadly, things quickly headed down hill from there.

In this book [Paradise Yamamoto] uses store-bought wrappers so readers can concentrate on the fillings. And, oh, what fillings! You will be enchanted (Debra Samuels, Foreward)

One would expect a wrapper recipe from an "ultimate dumpling cookbook".

I really wanted to be enchanted. I really did. Alas, I was not really enchanted at all. I tried to get over the fact that there was no recipe for making the wrapping and hoping that there would be at least a few interesting fillings with vegetables that weren't simply shredded cabbage. Fillings with spinach, onions, mushrooms, squash.... There is an interesting-looking recipe for how to make Garlic Chips to use as garnish. There is also the filling for Okra & Nameko Mushrooms and another for Land Seaweed that calls for seaweed to be mixed with the "meat & vegetable filling (page 12)". Several other filling recipes call for a very few ingredients to be mixed with that same meat and vegetable filling.

But it was the broccoli and egg umbrella dumplings that really did me in.

These fun dumplings are a colorful, enticing way to the the kids (and grownups) to eat their vegetables! The broccoli "umbrellas" give the dumplings some shade, so they cook separately from the egg filling. Scrambled eggs and broccoli go well together (The Recipes: 50 Ways to Make Dumplings | 02 Broccoli & Egg Umbrella Dumplings)

Note that there are no other flavourings in the filling other than broccoli that is "lightly steamed or blanched" and "beaten egg", other than a note to dip the broccoli in soy sauce or to give the sauce "a little more kick" by mixing in some rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil.

The "Bolognese" and "Sweet Potato" dumplings are equally horrifying, with the 'Bolognese' being comprised of chopped steak mixed with tomato sauce, and bearing only a slight resemblance to an actual Bolognese; the Sweet Potato filling is simply baked and mashed sweet potato with added "brown sugar and soy sauce to taste".

I would have given this book 2 stars (maybe even 3) rather than just 1, if my e-reader had allowed me to clearly see the photo descriptions of the "Pan Frying Methods", as well as the "Seven Simple Wrapping Methods".

I want you to try all seven of these techniques. (Seven Simple Wrapping Methods)

I really would like to try all seven techniques as well! Unfortunately, with the font size at readable size, some of the images get cut off at the bottom: The page with the Crescent photos nos.16 to 21 has the display cut off at about a quarter of the way through image no. 20; image no. 21 is invisible. A similar thing happens with The Handstand photos; the page with nos.1-6 shows just part of no. 6.

Surprisingly, most of the text instructions are embedded in the photos, rather than being simply typed out for ease of reading. In virtually all of these cases, each picture isn't even close to being worth a thousand words....

It really feels as if the book was created by an advertising agency that is entranced with its supposedly creative use of word balloons on the images. It seems clear that there has been no thought about the fact that many e-readers display images in black and white. The contrast on the images is very poor, especially where there are words in what ends up being white font on a light grey background on the images. (The colour images - viewable with a desktop application for the computer - are not much better, with gold font on white background for the word balloons.)

Our core mission at Tuttle Publishing is to create books which bring people together one page at a time. Tuttle was founded in 1832 in the small New England town of Rutland, Vermont (USA). Our fundamental values remain as strong today as they were then-to publish best-in-class books informing the English-speaking world about the countries and peoples of Asia. (About Tuttle)

At almost Cdn$20 for the e-book version that was published in Japanese in 2016 and translated into English in 2018, these difficulties with reading the book's contents are inexcusable. Barely excusable are the recipes themselves. If only there were more traditional fillings!

Anyone thinking of buying the book would do well to purchase the hardcover version that, at this point in time, is virtually the same price as the e-book. One has to assume that the words ARE visible and readable on the pages with the images.

Incidentally, do not be fooled by the sub-title, "Pot Stickers, Dumplings, Spring Rolls and More!" . While there are recipes for Pot Stickers and Dumplings, and even "More" in the book, as far as I can tell, there is no mention at all of Spring Rolls.

[Myra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a bunch of exciting, inspiring recipes for Gyoza. I did not find that. Honestly, the only recipe I even want to try is for sticky rice. Most of the recipes seemed liked they'd be pretty bland without dipping sauce, and a few I read through seemed to be lacking in detail on how to actually make them. There are decent instructions (mainly pictorial) for folding them at the beginning, and good instructions for cooking them. Sadly, the recipes themselves did not inspire me.

[Anna Nesterovich]

I couldn't walk by a dumpling book at the library, now could I? However, this book will not get 5 stars already, because all the recipes use store-bought wrappers. It's of course perfectly ok to use store-bought dumpling skins, but if I'm about to make my own dumplings, instead of just buying a pack, there is no sense in going only half way. And there is no recipe for wrappers in the book, even though it would take one page worth of space.

p. 65 - 4 stars - Fried Banana &Mango Dumplings - They turned out really good, even the folding process worked (mostly), but the indicated amount of filling could not be fitted into the indicated amount of skins. Certainly not 8, more like 16 dumplings in the end.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I only wish it had more variety in fillings, which is ironic. They were mostly the same base filling with one additional ingredient added in.

The images were interesting and beautiful. The end paper was gorgeous photos of each gyoza recipe numbered for looking up.

I really enjoyed learning about the different ways to cook the gyoza, and the "flower blossom" technique was a revelation that I felt slightly stupid for not realizing earlier.

This book would be wonderful as a book club pick, everyone picks one to try and then brings it to eat, or make a bunch together. Yum!

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah....whoever proofread this book needs to be relieved of their duties. The number of hyphenated words is infuriating.

There don't seem to be any real recipes as such ...I am a little confused as what to do....

Some of the pictures look like they would be fun to make, and do add a new twist to your usual gyoza. But all in all I am very underwhelmed by this book, pretty disappointed.

[Diann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good photos for folding dumplings, but many of the recipes look less than inspiring (though there are some exceptions). Also, no instructions on how to make your OWN dumpling skins / wraps. If you just want one Asian dumpling book, I'd go with Dumplings All Day Wong, by Lee Ann Wong. I rate this 2.5 stars, rounding up.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These recipes look simple and delicious. I can't wait to try them. Very detailed instructions for wrapping - in different styles, and simple recipes.

[Jody Schwarz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to purchase this book someday and make everything in it!

[Kbg503 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty mind blowing to have ingredients sticking out of the wrapper. Or at least showing. May be one way to show off the small tomatoes that I plan on growing.

[Sanjana Datla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The food is style over substance. Maybe this would be up your alley if you are chef looking for cool ways to fold your dumpling wrappers.