duck gyoza

the husband brought home duck. now what?

growing up, I had only ever tried duck once. peking duck at an authentic chinese restaurant in southern california. i was not impressed. reasonable. i was nine.

fast forward ‘x’ years, i was now faced with fresh duck in the fridge. and i was seriously stumped on what to do with it. an ice storm was expected the next day which meant we would most likely be stuck in the house with time on our hands. i figured a trip to the store would supply the inspiration i needed.

inspiration

and there it was. on the foreign foods aisle. we needed rice and i was reminded of the warmth of homemade dumplings. without a recipe in hand, i winged it. get it?

fresh duck [4 breasts] – minced
packaged gyoza wrappers
1 bunch green onions – sliced thin
sm. canned water chestnuts – minced
5 cloves garlic – minced
thumb-sized cube of ginger – minced
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. ponzu
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

1. marinated the duck in the sauces with the garlic + ginger.
2. quickly cooked the duck with all ingredients.
3. added a little cornstarch to thicken the mixture.
4. added tablespoonfuls to gyoza wrappers + sealed with warm water.
5. steamed for roughly 8 minutes.
6. topped with drizzle of sweet chili sauce + pan drippings.

these were so delicious, we made them again the next day.