餃子

I got this little trinket from a coin machine in Japan. It's a plastic version of a paper lantern that many shops and restaurants put outside to advertise what time of food or products they have for sale, which if the battery wasn't dead, would light up red like many of the paper lanterns you would see.

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餃子 (ギョウザ) - A meat or vegetable filled dumpling

Many ラーメン or 居酒屋 (いざかや) have these to promote their shop, which might also say, 酒 (さけ) to also promote they are a bar that serves alcohol.

餃子 for the most part is very easy to make and is a very popular snack food, especially while drinking!

If you go to your local grocery store, you might find this product in the frozen section:

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餃子 isn't a traditional Japanese food. They learned it from the Chinese, so all of the 餃子 brands in a grocery store are from Chinese companies.

一番: Put some olive oil in a フライパン, heat and put the frozen 餃子 inside.

Then VERY IMPORTANT - Add a cup of water and cover the pan letting the water evaporate to create stream to make the 餃子 moist and sticky, which is why 餃子 is often called Pot Stickers.

二番: Once the water has evaporated or cooked into the 餃子, let cook while stirring and flipping to get a nice even brown on both sides.

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三番: Once throughly cooked, it's time to eat - いただきます！

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Note: There are ways to make hand made 餃子, but I am not that great of a cook to make my own. Yet if you are, I recommend going on YouTube and learning from a professional who can show you everything you need to prepare and cook you own 餃子! And if you do, remember to share it with us by sending pictures to deathbykanji@gmail.com 

ありがとうございます！

ジョシュア