Kimchi Gyoza Nabe (キムチ餃子鍋) is a comfort dish filled with Japanese ingredients cooked in a Korean-inspired, spicy kimchi base. I love it since you can quickly throw in gyoza (Japanese dumplings), tofu, vegetables, and mushrooms to make this hot and sour soup. This hot pot is packed with flavorful ingredients and it’s a perfect dish all year round when you need that satisfying kick of spice to warm you up.
What is Gyoza Nabe?
In a nutshell, Gyoza Nabe (餃子鍋) is like a dumpling (wonton) soup, except the dumpling here is Japanese gyoza. If you search Gyoza Nabe in Japanese, there are many variations – with different types of soup broth and different hot pot ingredients. Since this dish is not considered “traditional” Japanese food, make it with your favorite Japanese ingredients! This Gyoza Nabe is totally my version that I came up with on a whim (but don’t worry, I have tested it a few times to make sure this recipe will absolutely hit the spot). Instead of a simple clear broth commonly used in Japanese hot pot, my recipe features a delicious spicy broth that richly infuses its flavor into the savory ingredients. You can also make this Gyoza Nabe with a kimchi soup base, or try one of these variations that might be fun for you to discover.
Soup Variations
Soup base:
Awase dashi Kombu dashi (vegetarian and vegan) Chicken broth
Flavor Variations:
Kimchi Miso Soy sauce Soy milk Tomato and more!
Hot Pot Ingredient Ideas
Gyoza (pork, chicken, vegetables) (homemade gyoza recipe and gyoza wrapper) Meat – pork belly, thinly sliced beef/pork loin, meatballs, and chicken wings Tofu Fish cakes – chikuwa and kamaboko Napa cabbage Chinese chives (garlic chives) Shungiku (tong hao or garland chrysanthemum) Carrot Negi (long green onion) or green onions Leeks Bok choy Bean sprouts Shirataki noodles Mushrooms – shiitake, enoki, and shimeji Ramen noodles or steamed rice for enjoying the flavorful leftover soup!
Cooking Tips
1. Dissolve miso completely
When you work with miso in a soup dish, make sure to completely dissolve miso in a ladle first before releasing miso into the soup. If you drop miso paste in the big pot of soup, you won’t know if the miso has been completely dissolved. You may end up adding more miso thinking that the soup doesn’t have much taste. Also, each brand of miso has a different level of saltiness, so please always taste the soup and adjust the flavor according to your liking.
2. Cook the dense ingredients first
If you want to enjoy the hot pot with all the ingredients being cooked at the right texture, you have to cook in 2 separate stages. Throw in root vegetables first, and then add in leafy vegetables when dense ingredients are almost tender. This way both the leafy vegetable and root vegetables will retain their proper texture. Another tip is to cut the ingredients into similar thicknesses and sizes so they’ll take roughly the same amount of time to cook.
3. Don’t overcook the gyoza
Whenever I make this, it’s a “fast food” recipe that I can make very quickly to feed my family. For me, I almost always use frozen gyoza – either homemade gyoza which I keep in the freezer or pre-made frozen gyoza from the grocery stores (Trader Joe’s has frozen pork or chicken gyoza which we like). You don’t need to defrost, just add the frozen gyoza in the hot soup. Remember to add gyoza when all the ingredients are almost cooked through. Don’t cook the gyoza too long as the gyoza skin gets soggy when it’s soaked in the soup for too long. The overcooked gyoza skin could break easily and its filling may slip out.
How to Enjoy Kimchi Gyoza Nabe
We enjoy the hot pot placed on the portable gas stove set at the dining table. It’s fun to eat and cook at the table as you can have a conversation with your family or friends while enjoying delicious food. For this recipe, there will be plenty of soup available for you to make it into a noodle soup by adding ramen noodles to the broth. You can also add steamed rice to go with the spicy soup. If you don’t have a donabe, Japanese earthenware pot, you can make this dish in a regular pot. So what are you waiting for? Simply chop the veggies and throw in gyoza and you’ll have a mouth-watering meal ready in 30-40 min from start to finish. You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to put together this scrumptious meal. Enjoy!
