Gyoza Kre­plach for Sukkot

This gyoza kre­plach is a main­stay on our Sukkot table. Kre­plach is a sym­bol­ic new year food in some Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties because the fill­ing is sealed in the noo­dle like judg­ment is sealed in the Book of Life on Yom Kip­pur. When I first learned about kre­plach my first thought was: ​‘It sounds like gyoza!’

Prep time: 30 min­utes (not includ­ing broth, if you like to make your own)

Cook time: 10 min­utes

Serves: 8 (2 gyoza/​person; will yield more gyoza than need­ed for soup, about ~30 total)

Instruc­tions:

1. Mix chick­en, sake, green onions, gin­ger, gar­lic, egg, sesame oil, and salt togeth­er in a medi­um-sized mix­ing bowl. 
2. Bring chick­en broth to a boil over medi­um heat, (while you begin assem­bling the gyoza) then low­er it to a low sim­mer as you fold the gyoza.
3. To fold the gyoza, place about 1 tbsp of the meat fill­ing in the cen­ter of a gyoza wrap­per. Dot the out­side edges with water to com­plete­ly seal into a tri­an­gle shape. Make sure there are no holes in the seal so the fill­ing doesn’t seep out. 
4. Place car­rots in broth, sim­mer for five min­utes. Taste your broth and sea­son it with salt as needed.
5. Place each gyoza care­ful­ly in the broth, mak­ing sure they don’t stick to the bot­tom of the pot. Turn up the heat to medi­um low and allow the dumplings to cook for five min­utes, or until the fill­ing feels firm. 
6. Serve each guest equal amounts of car­rots and two gyoza each. Extra gyoza can be kept in the freez­er for future meals.
7. Gar­nish with dill and serve imme­di­ate­ly. (Be care­ful not to let the gyoza sit in the soup too long. The wrap­pers are quite del­i­cate and can start to break down if they are left too long in the broth.)