Before chef Hitoshi Umamichi bought Japan’s Gyozanomise Okei in 2005, he was a regular at the gyoza restaurant. Since then, he has landed the restaurant in the Michelin guide.
Umamichi’s dough is one element that differentiates his restaurant’s gyoza from others; he only uses strong flour, sesame oil, and hot water. “Many gyoza makers use bread flour,” says Umamichi. “I use cake flour when I want to make it more silky.”
Into the cake flour, he pours in small portions of hot water at a time. Once it all comes together into a recognizable dough, he kneads it for about five minutes. “Experience makes a difference here,” says Umamichi. “In order to make [the dough] springy, it’s important to rest it. It develops the gluten.”
He says that the dough breaks apart easily if it isn’t rested, so he rests it for five minutes, then starts kneading again before letting it rest for another 30 minutes. After that, he breaks it up evenly using a knife, separating the dough into eight-gram pieces that will become the skin of the gyozas he makes.
Watch the full video to see how Umamichi makes the filling for the gyozas and the process he uses to fry them.