The Snook and I made our second attempt at Japanese dumplings – “gyoza” – tonight. Rather than using Kristen‘s arduous (but authentic) recipe, we cut a few corners. Our dough wrappers were pre-bought from the Chinese store around the corner. For the filling, we used our hand blender to whiz up green onion, ginger, water chestnut, and blanched cabbage. We mixed this with cooked minced chicken, sesame oil, and a raw egg. Then we filled the dumplings and dropped them into boiling water. After they had floated and cooked, we removed them to cool. Then it was into a frying pan of oil to crisp and brown up. The Snook improvised a dipping sauce of soy, white vinegar, mirin, chili, and ginger. Like I said, it’s not really authentic, but damn they were good. Seriously. We made thirty, and the Snook and I sat there and ate them all in one sitting. (Don’t even mention the carbs to me. They were so good I don’t care.)