Cooking Together Japanese Christmas – Recipes

Print 🖨 PDF 📄

Cooking Together Japanese Christmas Recipes

Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your class and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas. 

You Cooked:

  1. Starter: Chicken or Sweet Potato Gyoza with dipping sauce
  2. Main: Japanese Crispy-Fried Chicken with Sticky-Fried Rice & Coconut Ginger Sauce;
  3. Dessert: Choose from the Food Sorcery favourites on the link below.

Chicken Gyozas – Starter

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • 125g of minced chicken
  • 1 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 1tsp of Kiso curry mix (can be replaced with madras)
  • 1/2tsp of togarashi spice mix (can be replaced with 1/2tsp of chilli powder and sesame seeds)
  • A few chopped chives
  • 1 cloves garlic, grated 
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 tsp fish sauce (optional)
  • 6-10 dumpling wrappers
  • Vegetable oil, for frying

Method:

  1. Make dumpling filling: In a large bowl, combine chicken, spring onions, chives, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and fish sauce. Stir ingredients together, using your hands or a wooden spoon, until fully combined.
  2. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.
  3. Place 4 dumpling wrappers on your work surface, and keep the remaining wrappers covered with a clean kitchen towel. Place a heaping teaspoon of chicken filling just below the centre on each wrapper. Wet the edge of the wrapper with water and fold the top half over the bottom half and pinch the border to seal. Alternatively, pleat dumplings by making small folds starting on one edge and ending on the other, pinching firmly to seal after each fold. Place on a prepared baking sheet and continue stuffing and sealing dumplings until all pork mixture is used.
  4. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add dumplings in an even layer, sealed side up. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden on the underside.
  5. Add 1/3 cup water to the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Let steam for 3 minutes, then adjust the lid so it is ajar, allowing steam to escape. Cook until no water remains, about 3 minutes more.
  6. Use a spatula to transfer dumplings to a serving plate, crisp side up. Repeat the process until all dumplings are cooked.
  7. Serve pot stickers with dipping sauce on the side.

Sweet Potato Gyoza – Starter V

Ingredients – Serves 2

  • 100g shredded cabbage (Nappa or any other softer white/green cabbage)
  • 1/2 block of diced tofu
  • 100g mashed sweet potato (plain, unseasoned)
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 spring onion
  • 1tbsp of crispy-fried onions
  • 1tsp of soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoons white miso paste
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 6-10 gyoza wrappers

Method:

  1. To make the sweet potato puree/mash – simply roast the whole sweet potatoes in their skins until super soft.  Then when cooled, remove the skin.  Can be done a day in advance.
  2. Sprinkle the salt over the minced cabbage in a small bowl. Stir and leave it for 10 minutes. Squeeze the cabbage firmly in a sieve to drain and discard the excess water. Transfer the minced cabbage into a large deep bowl.
  3. Add the sweet potato puree, ginger, garlic, spring onion, miso paste, one teaspoon of sesame oil and the sugar and all the other ingredients. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
  4. Line a large tray with baking paper. Fill a small cup with cold water.
    Place a gyoza wrapper on a flat dry surface and put a heaped teaspoon of the sweet potato mixture in the centre (see picture above).
    Dip one finger in the cold water and trace a line along half the edge of the gyoza wrapper (see picture above).
    Fold the wrapper over to enclose the filling. Pinch the wrapper in the centre at the top to seal that spot.
    Holding the filled wrapper in your left hand (or right one if you are left-handed), pleat the top of the wrapper (see pictures above). Set aside on the lined tray keeping the edge up. Repeat with the rest of the gyoza dumplings.
  5. For the cooking part, use a large frying pan or skillet with a tight-fitting lid.
    Put the pan over a medium heat and add one teaspoon of sesame oil. When it is hot, place half the gyoza in the pan (or as many that will fit) with their edge up. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the bottom of the gyoza is golden.
    Add in 60ml of the cold water and cover immediately with the lid. Steam for about 2 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated.
    Uncover, let the water evaporate completely, then add one teaspoon of sesame oil. Cook until the gyoza is crispy in the bottom (when shaking the pan, the dumplings should slide; if not, set the pan aside and cover with the lid for another 2 or 3 minutes).
    The gyoza dumplings should be slightly translucent and the filling should be firm.
  6. Flip the gyoza dumplings on a large serving plate, browned surface up. Cover with foil while cooking the other batch (repeat the cooking actions) if you are making them all in one go.
    Serve with the dipping sauce (mix the ingredients in a small bowl).

Gyoza Dipping Sauce – Starter

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of ponzu
  • 1 teaspoon black vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • pinch of black pepper and/or gochugaru (red chili pepper flakes)
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated
  • 1cm of fresh ginger, grated

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Japanese Crispy-Fried Chicken – Main

If you don’t eat chicken, replace it with a firm tofu – timings and quantities are the same.  You can also try cauliflower, as cauliflower has a lot of moisture, you can pre-roast to get some of the moisture out or fry twice to get the extra crunch

Ingredients – Serves 2

  • 2 Chicken breast or thighs, cut into pieces
  • Corn flour ½ cup
  • Plain flour 1 cup
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2cm of fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 cloves of fresh garlic, grated
  • 1tbsp of Madras curry powder
  • ½ cup of buttermilk
  • Vegetable oil for cooking

Method

  1.  Dip the chicken into garlic and ginger and buttermilk. Mix cornflour, plain flour and curry spice. Dust the chicken in flour just before cooking.
  2. Shallow fry in 2cm of hot oil until crispy and golden, flip and repeat. If the chicken is big, place the chicken on a baking tray and finish in the oven until cooked through.

Coconut Ginger Sauce (often referred to as Katsu) – Main

Ingredients: Serves 4

  • – 1tbsp of olive oil
  • – 1 onion, diced
  • – 2cloves of garlic
  • – 3cm of ginger, grated
  • – 1 carrot, peeled, grated
  • – 1tsp of mild curry powder
  • – 1tsp of turmeric
  • – 100ml of veg stock
  • – Salt and pepper
  • – 300ml of coconut cream
  • – 1tbsp of light soy sauce

Method:

For the Sauce:

  1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, add onion, garlic, ginger and spices, fry for a couple of minutes, add carrot, fry for additional two minutes. Pour in the veg stock, boil for about 20 minutes, season well and finish with coconut cream, blend if you prefer smooth sauce.

Sticky-Fried Rice

Ingredients – Serves 4

  • 1tbsp of good quality oil
  • 3 cups of cooked sticky rice
  • 2 cloves of chopped garlic
  • 1 sliced red onion
  • 2 chopped spring onions
  • Asparagus 4x spear
  • Tender stem broccoli, 8x stem
  • A handful of chopped coriander
  • 1tbps soy sauce
  • Use any other veg you like, ideally what’s in season…

Method

  1. Heat wok and add oil, onion and garlic, fry for 2 minutes. Throw in asparagus, broccoli, spring onion, and soy sauce, and warm up.
  2. Add rice, toss around, and mix well with the rest of the ingredients-push on one side of the pan.
  3. Mix with the rice and finish with chopped coriander.

How to Cook Sticky Rice

Method:

  1. Use good quality sticky rice. (we prefer nishiki or koshi: Yutaka brand)
  2. Soak the rice before rinsing for 20 minutes for more tender grains.
  3. Rinse at least 3-4 times under running cold water, until it runs clear.
  4. Rice to water ratio: 250g of rice: 330g of water.
  5. Place in a pan, cold, medium heat, no lid at this point, waiting to start simmer.
  6. After bubbles appear, place the lid on your pan, turn the heat down and simmer for 11 minutes.
  7. Turn off the heat and let rest for 20 minutes, do not remove the lid.
  8. Add seasoning, mix well and chill well in a refrigerator before using. (ideally overnight)

Food Sorcery’s Favourite brands to Use

Available in Asian supermarkets such as W.H.Lungs or Wing Yip

image of recommended brands to food sorcery cookery school
Best for Japanese
image of recommended brands to food sorcery cookery school
Thicker so hold together better
Imge of Ingredients for Thai cookery classes at Food Sorcery Manchester and Didsbury
King Oyster Mushroom
image of Ponzu at Food Sorcery Manchester
Best for Japanese
Dessert Recipes

Use the link above to explore the Food Sorcery favourite dessert recipes

We hope you enjoyed the class!

We really hope you enjoyed your class at Food Sorcery. If you have any questions for chef get in touch lovetocook@foodsorcery.co.uk

Spread the word about us! on TripAdvisor or google. If you have any feedback about the class please do let us know.

Book Online

Take a Look at our cookery classes. Gift vouchers are available and never expire.

Follow us @foodsorcery

Facebook Instagram Twitter Linkedin