The good stuff:

• Who doesn’t like a dumpling? It’s incredible how every culture has their own form of a dumpling- so today we are getting inspired by Asian influences, specifically the Japanese gyoza (related to the Chinese Jiaozi, with a few tweaks).
• To make this vegan, we are stuffing the dumplings with a succulent pumpkin filling elevated with scallion, ginger, turmeric & garlic. Oh- and some heat! 🙂 All these things make for an extra nutritious & healthy filling!
• While the recipe may appear as intimidating- it is not! You can definitely make this and you can also prepare the pumpkin filling ahead of time (if you can’t do everything on the same day). YOU GOT THIS!!! 
• You can also make large batches and freeze them- they will hold well in the freezer for 1 month.
• If you want to enjoy these gyoza with soy sauce, please use a low-sodium version. You can also use coconut aminos if you’d rather avoid soy-sauce. You’ll find them at some big supermarkets in Jamaica- it’s a little pricey, but how you choose to spend your $ is your choice 🙂

You’ll need (for approx 35-40 gyoza):

• 400 gr (almost 1lb) pumpkin, weighed without seeds*
• 3-4 heads of scallion*
• ½ scotch bonnet
• ½ – 1 teaspoon garlic powder*
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• Pinch of salt
• Dumpling wrappers*

The process:

• Boil a pot of water. During that time…
• Peel the pumpkin skin off and chop pumpkin into cubes. Place the pumpkin in the pot and boil for about 8 minutes. Remove the cooked pumpkin from pot and set aside. Let it cool for about 30 minutes or so.
• During that time, you can do other stuff 😀
• Wash the scallions and chop finely, chop the scotch bonnet very finely and have your garlic powder, ginger, turmeric and salt nearby.
• You can also start to set up your “station”: get one large plate and a small bowl filled with water.
• Now back to the pumpkin: transfer the cooked pumpkin to a large bowl. Mash it with a potato masher (or with a large fork). Then add the scallion, scotch bonnet, garlic powder, ginger, turmeric and mix. TASTE IT- if it feels overpowering- don’t worry. Remember the dumpling wrapper will tone it down. Add a bit of salt to your preference.
• Now we’re ready to make the dumplings!
• Put one dumpling in your hand. Wet your index finger (of your other hand) and wet the edge of the dumpling wrapper so that it can stick together a little easier.
• Then place a bit of the pumpkin filling into the middle of the dumpling, fold the wrapper in half and close the dumpling by sealing the edges. Set carefully on the large plate.
• Do this until you’ve finished all the pumpkin filling 🙂
• Now you can choose to cook them immediately OR you can freeze them!
• If you choose to cook them, here’s how it goes:
  • Get a non-stick pan that is large enough and has a lid. Fill a cup with water and keep this next to you.
  • Place some oil in a non-stick pan. Place the dumplings one by one- quickly but carefully- in the pan. They can be next to each other but they can’t be touching- the dumplings will expand in the cooking process and will touch each other and then get sticky.
  • Cook on med-high heat for about 2 mins- you want the bottom facing side to turn into a golden brown.
  • Once the bottom is golden brown, reduce heat to medium, quickly drizzle some water to the pan- you want about 1 inch of the pan to fill up with water. It might be hot and splatter a little bit- so be careful 🙂
  • Immediately cover the pan with lid- you want to keep all the steamy goodness IN the pan. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Now, remove the lid- you will probably still see some water in the pan, but that’s OK. Cook uncovered on low-med heat for about 4 minutes. The water should have entirely disappeared at this point.
  • Remove carefully from pan and enjoy 🙂

Of note:

• Dumpling wrappers can be found ready made, often in the frozen section. You’ll find them as “dumpling/gyoza/potsticker” “wrappers” or sometimes it’s called “skin” too (instead of “wrapper”).
• If it’s frozen- please thaw it first 🙂 You can place the SEALED package of dumpling wrappers in a bowl of water and it should thaw in 3-4 hours.
• Please adjust the garlic powder measurements to YOUR taste. Use one full spoon if you love garlic- like me 😛
• If you can’t find scallion in your country, you can replace with green onions- not exactly the same, but similar 🙂
• You can make the pumpkin filling a day ahead and leave in fridge- if you’d like