Japanese pork and cabbage gyoza, pan-fried pot sticker style

Roughly chop the cabbage by hand or in a food processor; toss with salt and let sit about 15 minutes to draw out water.

Finely chop the garlic chives; for scallions, cut into three or four inch segments, split lengthwise and slice across.

variation: briefly blanch the chives or scallions in salted boiling water and squeeze them out well for a milder flavor and less moisture.

Season the pork with 2% salt by weight, white pepper, sugar, the chives, smashed garlic and smashed chopped ginger.

Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the salted cabbage with a potato ricer or a twisted towel.

Add the cabbage to the pork and knead by hand until the filling turns sticky and cohesive.

Keep the wrappers covered if working slowly. Wet the rim of a wrapper, add a smear of filling and pinch seven pleats along one side only so it curves into a crescent; start with minimal filling.

variation: fold in half, pinch the middle and make two pleats from each side; or simply fold in half; or join the ends for a caltrop shape.

Freeze the dumplings on a tray a couple of hours, then bag; good about a month and cooked from frozen.

Coat a non-stick skillet with oil and add the dumplings, fresh or frozen; fry until the bottoms are brown.

Add water about a quarter inch deep, cover and turn the heat up; steam until the water evaporates, about four to five minutes.

Uncover, shake to loosen and fry until the bottoms crisp again.

Mix about equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar for dipping; plate the dumplings crispy side up.