Trader Joe’s is my favorite grocery store. Great price for organic food and great service. I picked up a bag of their pork gyoza, the japanese word for dumpling. Here is my criteria for delicious dumplings.
Filling: great flavor, nice texture, healthy balance of meat and lots of vegetables. I am allergic to shrimp and do not eat red meat so you won’t see reviews (or recipes) on dumplings with these ingredients.
Skin: thin! It’s the wrapper for all the delicious goodness inside
The dumplings have a textured bottom. Their closures are messy but after they’re cooked you can’t tell.
The list of ingredients included things I knew and things I had not heard of. I always get nervous about the things I’ve never heard of. I followed the cooking instructions for stovetop cooking.
I filled a 12″ pan with the whole bag.
The Filling: Pork, cabbage, onion, green onion. It’s a little too oniony and peppery for my taste. The Trader Joe’s vegetable gyoza had the same strong onion taste.
The Skin: thin, just the way I like it.
Summary: The filling’s strong onion and pepper taste was strong. The girls didn’t like it. If it was just me, I could keep a bag in the freezer for emergency purposes but since the girls won’t eat them, it defeats the purpose of having an emergency stash.
Star rating: 2.5 out of 5.