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Dim Sums ... "potstickers"
Dim Sums ... "potstickers"
Pug-H


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Recipe (Food) II (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Pentax *ist DS
Lens: Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax
Location: Japan
Date: Jan 10, 2006
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Studio, Food and Drink
Date Uploaded: Jan 10, 2006

 Gyoza is a very popular dish in Utsunomiya - it's known as the gyoza capital of Japan. Gyoza originates from China ... and it is said that Japanese soldiers returning from there brought the recipe along with them to Utsunomiya.
My photo is of ready-made gyoza. My method of cooking was to prepare a flour and water mixture (1 tablespoon of flour, several of water). I poured cooking oil in the frypan, put the gyoza in and waited until the bottoms were 'a good colour' and poured the flour water on top of them. Then I placed the lid on and waited until the sizzling was about stopped. Lastly, I poured sesame oil on top and served. Lovely crunchy crusty stuff. The problem was to take the photos quickly before my meal got too cold. Oh, and the rice is normal rice.

This is a recipe from //chinesefood.about.com/od/potstickers/r/gyoza.htm
Gyoza - Japanese Potstickers
From Rhonda Parkinson,
Your Guide to Chinese Cuisine.
It's not well known that gyoza originated in China. Gyoza are also known as Japanese potstickers - it's very difficult to eat just one!

Serves 8 to 10 (as an appetizer)

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 pound ground pork (1 cup)
• 3/4 cup shredded Napa cabbage
• 1 green onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot chili oil, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
• 30 gyoza wrappers, or as needed
PREPARATION:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the shredded cabbage until it is tender but still crisp. Plunge into ice cold water, remove, and drain thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, cooked cabbage, green onion, minced ginger, egg, soy sauce, chili oil and sesame oil.

Lay a gyoza wrapper in front of you. Wet all the edges with water. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Fold the sides up to form a semicircle, and then pinch the edges to seal. Continue with the rest of the gyoza wrappers until the filling is gone.

To cook, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 12 - 15 of the gyoza and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom.

Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Cover the dumplings and cook until the water is absorbed (5 to 7 minutes). Repeat with the remainder of the gyoza dumplings.

Statistics
Place: 34 out of 110
Avg (all users): 5.8528
Avg (commenters): 6.4091
Avg (participants): 5.6719
Avg (non-participants): 5.8969
Views since voting: 1265
Views during voting: 443
Votes: 326
Comments: 24
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 01/18/2006 12:30:25 AM
This was literally a hurried shot. I sat down to dinner, then suddenly thought, "I should take a photo of this." So I had to set up my new but unfinished light tent, the light and get my camera out. It would have been better if I used my tripod, I suppose - alonger shutter speed would have given a better depth of field.

Oh, and I didn't know they were known as potstickers until looking for a recipe on the internet....

Message edited by author 2006-01-18 00:31:24.
 01/18/2006 12:20:58 AM
Kore Gyoza to ocha kudasai! Hehehehe! Appetizing treat my friend.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/17/2006 08:40:50 PM
would be a bit better to me if the bowl didn't have that dark spot on it - a great image though - very classy - and it looks tasty! nice work :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/17/2006 05:38:30 PM
Very nice presentation and composition. But, I think a bit more contrast would have made this photo perfect. Your whites don't seem quite white.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/17/2006 03:11:31 AM
Very nicely done, looks just like a picture in a cook book. Very appealing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/17/2006 01:42:17 AM
I'll have them and Dim Sum more! (UGH, bad joke!)

Nice work, great set up and lighting is good also.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/16/2006 10:25:50 PM
I definately want to try this recipe. nice photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/16/2006 05:20:55 PM
Well thought out composition and exceptional technical quality. Lighting is good. The large soft focused foreground works well in this image to highlight the food. Soft focused foregrounds normally do not work well. Kudos to you.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/16/2006 01:19:16 PM
First thought that the bowl was reflecting something but must be a pattern, You should have turned this the other way as this is very distracting being the darkest point of the image which also sits on two rules of thirds lines, the food looks amazingly fresh as the filo poastry is still nice and moist :0) Good use of DOF but the top right also distracts me a little too. Might have left a little room between the rice bowl and the dim sum plate too, great shot gonna give you an 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/16/2006 11:08:22 AM
Let me start off, I love dim sums, never knew how to make them, but there are lots of Chinese in Thailand. So for all its worth, I gave a 6. I'm avoiding to judge on my taste of food and just it like every other challenge photos. So to me, your focus is too centred for me. At least you've focused on the rice as well. I honestly think it would have been better off if you managed to just focus on the dimsum if that's the kind of focus you wanted to do. The composition of the entire photo isn't too bad, but it's too bland. The colours need to stand out more. Maybe it's also because of my personal preference. The a change on table mat to show off the food would have added so much more to this shot. Cropping the end of the chopsticks isn't working for me either, it gives a very constricted feeling to the food. Your dishes chosen for decoration is good though. I like the natural lighting going on in this picture, but maybe adding a bit more light so that the closer objects don't look too dark in comparison may have worked very well for the shot.

I'm terribly sorry this is long, but I really thought this shot has a lot of potential.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/15/2006 03:43:15 PM
Very well done. I would like to have seen more light in the forefront and the chopsticks behind the Dim Sum making them more dominant in the composition. Good Luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/15/2006 10:19:26 AM
nice
 01/14/2006 11:00:46 PM
Clean and sharp image.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/13/2006 12:33:03 AM
I LOVE potstickers!!! One of my very favorites! Love the texture of the placemat here...it really adds something to the photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/12/2006 03:34:11 PM
Nice picture, but more DOF would have helped
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/12/2006 01:05:25 PM
Nice presentation, lighting is ok.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/12/2006 12:40:22 AM
The details of the rice are too soft. I don't like how the placemat and chop sticks are unsharp. Use a little wider DOF.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 07:07:49 PM
I would have prefered having the chopsticks in focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 11:02:44 AM
The lighting isn't attractive. Heavy shadows and the backlighting doesn't help here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 10:02:31 AM
good composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 08:50:48 AM
With the corn starch crust ... my favorite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 05:51:41 AM
good photo, maybe with better composition the photo would benefit, to put the sticks vertical or something like that
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 03:59:32 AM
nice magazine quality shot...and great food
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2006 02:31:18 AM
Nice composition and components, but I wish the foreground were in focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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