The idea for homemade wrappers was born out of stuffing my face with buta kim chee gyoza that Kat (Our Adventures in Japan) had shared some time ago. I tried the recipe yesterday and they were so good that it only made sense to keep a stash of ready-to-use wrappers in the freezer to gogo-a-gyoza at any given moment.
I’ll admit that making these were simplified by having a manual pasta machine but if you possess the finesse at wielding a rolling pin, then rolling to a thickness of 1/16th of an inch (2mm) is what’s important here.
Buckwheat pasta recipe
makes about sixty 3-inch rounds2 cups all-purpose (italian “00”) flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup (6oz.) water
Combine the flours and salt on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center and add the water. Gradually incorporate the water and flour and knead for several minutes until smooth and elastic. Depending on humidity level in the flour, you may need to add a bit more water. Add a teaspoon at a time, but the goal is to achieve medium firm elasticity. Shape dough into a ball and set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes, covered.
Flour your work surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each to 1/16th of an inch. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to obtain as many rounds as possible. Generously flour each side of pasta rounds (I manually rubbed each circle and shook off the excess). For this recipe I got about 60 gyoza wrappers. Stack into piles of ten. Wrap in plastic and freeze.
Dusting the rounds is crucial to keeping them from sticking together. I would have opted for cornstarch but that’s another ingredient that I cannot find in Italy. When using the frozen rounds, allow to defrost at room temperature for several minutes until they are easy to take apart. I don’t suggest leaving them unattended for a long period in a very warm kitchen. You know what happens when hot and cold come together – condensation – and sticky dough.
And here’s what you can whip up in a jiffy when there’s unexpected company. Google “gyoza” and you’ll find a ton of results. The sky’s the limit in fillings, but my favorite has to be kim chee and minced pork. Thank you Kat for posting quick and easy food!
Rubber Slippers In Italy 