A normal meal? Gyoza and Fried Quinoa

I had it in my head that I wanted to make gyoza that I could eat and fried rice.  I told Gabe this and he suggested I try using quinoa (which I just learned the other day is pronounced keen-wa) instead of rice.  Of course, I was totally up for it.  Only one problem - I had never cooked with it before.  A quick trip to the internet taught me that it cooks up pretty much like rice.  Once I knew that I was set.

To make gyoza, something that I know well and is dear to my heart, I had to first figure out how I was going to make GF wrappers.  Instead of using the premixed all purpose GF flour I had, I mixed up a new batch based on a recipe I got out of Cooking for Isaiah, a book I picked up a few weeks ago about cooking GFDF.

Silvana's all purpose flour blend
6 cups rice flour
3 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups potato starch
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons xanthan gum

Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl.  Transfer contents to an airtight container and store in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator.

It seemed like it would be a good blend - all of the flavors in it would be nice and mild, and not overpower anything or make it beany.  And I guess it did turn out ok, but with one exception - everything turned out with a mochi texture.  That is definitely not a bad thing, I love mochi, the people I cook for love mochi.  But it's not the same fluffy texture that you get with flour.  Who knows, it was my first batch, maybe I did it wrong.  I added the potato starch in too late, so the proportions might have been off.  But anyways, my gyoza.

Gyoza Wrappers
2 Cups GF flour
1/2 Cup water
1 egg

Mix together, let sit for a while then roll out to as thin as you can get it without them falling apart.  Mine ended up pretty thick, my dough was very crumbly.

Gyoza Filling
1lb ground pork
1/2 head cabbage
4 stalks green onion
1T cornstarch
1/4 cup soy sauce
1T garlic
1t ginger

Finely chop the cabbage.  Put the cabbage into a bowl and cover with 2T or so salt.  Let sit for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Squeeze all the excess water out of the cabbage, then add all of the other ingredients.  Cook up a spoonful in a medium-high pan and taste.  Adjust the flavors to your liking.  When you are satisfied, put about a tablespoon of filling into each wrapper and seal shut.  Cook the gyoza in a meduim-high pan, browning in a bit of oil for 2-3 minutes before adding 1/3 cup of water and covering with a lid, steaming until done.

Yeah.  Looking back on it, it doesn't seem like it would work.  I didn't pay enough attention to the wrappers, I went about making them the wrong way.  I should have tried to make them more round, and I think I need to tweak the dough a bit.  They ended up being a weird chewy-crunchy, about the texture of fried mochi.  The filling was spot-on, but that's something that I know how to do with my eyes closed.  Over all, they tasted really good.  I just need to work on the wrappers some more.


What about the fried quinoa Aimee?  I strayed from my normal fried rice recipe and had a vinegar base for this.  Don't know why, just felt like it.  It turned out really good, with all of it disappearing really fast.

Fried Quinoa
2 cups uncooked quinoa
1 cup corn
1 cup peas/carrots
6-8 eggs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
2t Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Cook up your quinoa according to directions on the package.  Let cool for a while.  In a hot pan, put 2 tablespoons of oil.  Crack your eggs into this and scramble until about half done.  Add your veggies and cook for a few minutes.  Season with Lawry's.  Add quinoa and fry until it starts to brown.  Add soy sauce and vinegar (or for a more traditional taste, omit vinegar).  Stir until liquids are evenly incorporated, and fry a few more minutes until nice and browned.  Serve in bowls with spoons!