Free Range Friday (Part ll, the Friday part!)

Oh, so it's come to this, a total cheat on the offering of Free Range Friday. All I can say in my defense is...I WANTED to make this but the day is not quite going as I planned and so I'm going to turn you over to the owner of the recipe, Rachael, whose blog La Fuji Mama has been
mentioned here before. She is guest blogging at Steamy Kitchen yet another food blog, with the recipe I am drooling over today, Gyoza, a Japanese style dumpling, the interpretation of what was originally a Chinese dish. While I wouldn't have been able to get the proper pastry I could have used the round wrappers that are sold here (frozen) for arepas - the flour ones, not the corn meal!

Before I get to the recipe though, I thought I'd share a few food related items that came to me today. One was this, a garden curiousity that has finally matured...so to speak.

Peter Pepper Proudly Peeping

I only hope my brother is as proud of me as I am of these peppers, since he's the one who sent me the seeds. In other words, it's all his fault! They are cute little devils though, aren't they?

Also, the great news is, Holistica Aimee is OPEN!!! Here are some photos. I'll have the proud owners next time, they insist they cannot be photographed without both of them present and I've done a miss on one or the other both times, so one of these days, that magic will happen and I'll share it here - two exceptionally beautiful women inside and out. Congratulations, both of you! We're all really excited and ready to support this wonderful new addition to Culebra.





And now, on to the recipe. I'm going to put the ingredients here so you have a shopping list, along with the link to the actual web site, since it is full of how-to photos and other tips and bits of interest. I will make this or have to start a Japanese restaurant here, because the idea of steamed dumplings is now a craving! And no, I couldn't have gotten Napa cabbage either, but I'd have used regular cabbage without blinking an eye. Would the butcher at Milka's grind some pork for me? I bet he would! Ok, no miso either. I would have used the Bragg's Liquid Amino I got at the store for now. But Dian is working on getting miso; I can wait.

Gyoza Recipe (Japanese Pan Fried Dumplings)

4 cups, loosely packed, minced Napa cabbage (use the frilly leafy half of the cabbage)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
9 ounces ground pork
1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (with a Microplane grater)
2 – 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon green onion (green part only), minced
2 teaspoon aka miso paste (red/dark miso paste)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
40 dumpling wrappers

For cooking the dumplings:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup water

Dipping Sauce:
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
Several drops of chili oil or sesame oil (optional)