Showerthought: freezing vs fresh dumplings for a party of 12

Had to choose between making 80 dumplings from scratch or buying 4 bags of frozen ones for my niece's birthday... went with frozen because time was tight. They actually held up pretty well in the steamer but I think I lost about 3 to sticking on the basket.

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyprice1mo ago

Oh I feel this one hard. I did 100 frozen gyoza for a New Year's party last year and honestly, the only real trick is to not thaw them first, they get way too sticky. I laid mine out on a parchment lined baking sheet while the steamer was heating up and that cut down on the basket sticking a lot. If you can swing it next time, a quick pan fry after steaming gives them that crispy bottom that makes people think you slaved all day.

dianahayes1mo ago

Gosh, that's such a good point about not thawing them, but it also hits on something bigger I've noticed. So much of cooking well is just knowing which corners to cut and which ones will mess you up, like the difference between skipping a step and finding a smarter shortcut. It's like that with everything really, from wrapping presents to packing for a trip, the people who seem like they have it all together just figured out the right little cheats.

sarah8181mo ago

Hard disagree on the pan fry thing @wendyprice. That crispy bottom trick is exactly what people mean when they say something is overengineered. The whole point of frozen gyoza is that you dump them in a steamer basket and walk away for 10 minutes. Adding a extra pan fry step makes it a whole other project with more dishes and more time standing over a stove. Steam them straight from frozen, skip the parchment even because who has parchment paper just lying around at a party, and serve them with a good dipping sauce. Nobody at a party is crunching a gyoza bottom and thinking wow this chef really cared. They just want something warm and edible to hold while they talk to someone. The less effort you put into the process the more time you get to actually hang out. That is the real win.