Gyoza EcoLunchBox Solo Bento

Gyoza EcoLunchBox Solo Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I made a giant truckload of gyoza (see my method and recipe here) tonight; enough for 20 per person... or so... but of course, some of them were destined for bento so we didn't actually eat that many. I could have, though! These were made with ground pork and turkey, green onions and chopped swiss chard. Because I'm just that untraditional. I packed as many as I could fit in the EcoLunchBox Solo Cube, which is perfect for this kind of "dry" meal, alongside the last few remaining baby strawberries, pickled onions, carrots and daikon, and a small Okinawan sweet potato. My kindergartner can handle this easy-open box, secured with a felt band, and it's just the right size for her appetite as well. Enjoy, TinySprite!

Gyoza Bento

Gyoza Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

After the wonton project, I decided to make gyoza. I used Maki's recipe on Just Hungry, and they came out pretty good. The kids liked these too, but I guess they might prefer the wontons a bit more since they are huge soup fans. Anyway, I tucked a few gyoza into a stainless steel box along with a little container of shoyu/rice vinegar sauce. He also has a cup of pickled veggies (carrots, cucumbers and daikon) and a cherry tomato for color. I used a piece of lettuce to keep the gyoza separate from the other stuff; I think this qualifies as "edible baran" for entry in hapabento's B.O.M.B. contest!

I put the fruit in a separate box: black plum, Cara Cara oranges, raspberries and blueberries in this section. Have you tried Cara Cara oranges yet? There is some controversy over whether they are in fact actual grapefruit hybrids, or just look like grapefruits with their pink flesh. Anyway, supposedly they are less acidic and more sweet than regular oranges. We tried them at the Ferry Terminal farmer's market in San Francisco last weekend and were hooked! They really do taste sweet and berrylike, and their pink flesh is rather cool.

This has turned out to be Dumpling Week over here at the Happy Little Bento house. I find that dumplings really make people happy... even the word dumpling makes me smile. You too? :)

Making Wontons

The good thing about wontons is that they are easy to put into soup for a healthy, tasty meal...and they also go well in bento because they taste just as good cold or room temp. There is a bit of preparation time involved, but not too much. I used ground pork, which is traditional, but you could easily substitute turkey or chicken if you prefer. Season with shoyu, salt, sugar, pepper, garlic and a little cornstarch. I mixed in chopped baby bok choy because I like the crunch and the green color it adds. You can also add chopped green onions. The filling should look something like this.

Next, place a tiny amount in the center of the wrapper. I like to use square ones, because that is how my mom taught me. I thought these were square, but it turns out they were rectangular! Oh well, it doesn't matter that much, I guess.

It's important that you don't overfill them, as it will be difficult to close, and then you run the risk of them popping open later. Dip your fingertips in water and wet two adjacent edges of the wrapper. Press those edges to the other side, folding the wrapper into a triangle. Try to press out any air pockets.

You can see here that my triangle is imperfect, due to my rectangular wrapper.  If you bought square ones, you will get a nice, perfect triangle. Good for you. Oh, and make sure you use medium thickness, not thin, as they will hold up better during cooking. Next, make a pinch in the bottom edge and bring the two side corners down to meet and overlap.

Wet the corners to seal.

Repeat with the rest of the filling, till you are done! If you calculated right, you should come out even. Today, I got lucky! Filling and wrappers came out even. Yay!

Halfway done. Look how cute they look, sitting together like that. When you are ready to cook, set a pot of water to boil. Place the wontons in gently and make sure they don't touch the bottom of the pan, or they might stick there. Cook for one more minute after they float to the surface. This is how my mom taught me; she really did not give me a more specific cooking time than that. You should watch them, because it won't take more than 5 minutes or so.

All done! Drain and cool. You can serve them in a chicken broth-based soup, with some choy, onions, mushrooms, garlic and green onion, even spinach. This is what we did for dinner tonight. It was a hit with everyone, especially the kids :) The leftover wontons made it into bento for tomorrow; see my latest on my flickr photostream.