Gyoza

Gyoza are Japanese dumplings filled with minced pork, cabbage, garlic, ginger and spring onion wrapped in a thin dough. They are most often cooked yaki style: fried to crisp the base, then steamed under a lid so the tops turn tender while the bottoms stay golden.

They are served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar and chilli oil. Crisp on the bottom, juicy inside, gyoza are a staple of ramen shops and home tables alike.

Gyoza descend from Chinese jiaozi. Japanese soldiers stationed in northeastern China encountered them during the war and brought the idea home; gyoza took off in post-war Japan, especially around Utsunomiya, which still celebrates itself as the country's gyoza capital.

The Japanese version is typically thinner-skinned and more garlicky than its Chinese ancestor, and the pan-fried yaki-gyoza is by far the most popular style. Today they are a beloved everyday food, eaten as a side, a snack or a meal.