Make a paste from the white peppercorns, garlic and ginger

Separate thick stem from leaves of Napa Cabbage and julienne and then dice them finely

Roughly chop the leaves

Remove and discard a couple of inches from the root end of the garlic chives and mince the edible part

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan and heat the paste until fragrant

Add the julienned and minced cabbage ends and when soft, add the chopped leaves. Turn off and set aside to cool

Meanwhile, grind the pork shoulder and season with soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, starch and dashi powder

Knead the meat and seasonings thoroughly or with a stand mixer or by hand. You really cannot overdo this kneading

Now mix in the garlic chives and the cooled fried cabbage mixture. This only requires mixing not kneading as in the previous step

Taste your mixture by putting 1 Tbs. in a small bowl and microwaving for 10 seconds. Then adjust according to your taste

Allow flavors to blend for several hours in the refrigerator or overnight

Wrapping:

Start by reviewing the setup and technique from the 15-minute point until the 20-minute point in this Test Kitchen video

At first you will not be happy, but I guarantee you will finally get the hang of this

Buy good quality wrappers and keep them covered after opening on your prep stand

Fill a small bowl with water as you will need to seal potsticker edges while assembling

Lay out about 10-15 on a cutting board

Fill each with about 15-18 g of filling (approximately 1 Tbs)

Press the filling down so that it forms a flattish semicircular mound within the wrapper

When wrapped it will sit flat and have a slightly bowed appearance

Note : Gyoza can be frozen by placing them on a plate covered with wax paper, then put in the freezer. Once frozen place the individually frozen gyoza together in a bag or a freezer container

Cooking:

Heat a 12 inch, lidded, nonstick sauté pan

Add 1 Tbs oil and when quite hot add the gyoza

Cook until the bottoms are quite dark. I repeatedly pick my gyoza up while cooking to ensure that the bottoms are getting uniformly dark and not quite burned

With lid in hand quickly add about 1/2 cup of water to pan and immediately cover. Steam for about three minutes or until texture looks like soft pasta. Treat frozen gyoza the same way but cook instead for about 5 minutes.

Serve with dipping sauce

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