At Dubai’s Orfali Bros restaurant, Syrian chef and restaurateur Mohamad Orfali reimagines shish barak, a popular Levantine dish featuring beef dumplings in spiced yogurt sauce, as wagyu dumplings served over seasoned yogurt and topped with a spicy, seasoned oil made from sujuk sausage.
Inspired by his riff, I created a version of my own, using a similar treatment to turn store-bought gyoza into a simple but spectacular weeknight meal. I kept the simple garlicky yogurt, but added wilted kale to make this feel like a complete dinner (feel free to swap in Swiss chard, collard greens, or even spinach). Melted butter infused with mild chile flakes, smoked paprika, and cumin adds a finishing blast of flavor that can amp up even the most timidly flavored dumplings. —Zaynab Issa
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What you’ll need
Microplane Grater
$18 At Amazon
Large Skillet
$74 At Amazon
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
$26 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
2
1¼
2
2
24
4
1
½
¼
1
2
Preparation
Step 1
Mix together 1 cup labneh or plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, 2 garlic cloves, finely grated, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. Spread mixture on a platter. Set aside.
Step 2
Toast 2 Tbsp. pine nuts in a dry large skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; let cool.
Step 3
Heat 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in same skillet. Working in 2 batches and adding remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil between batches, cook 24 store-bought beef, chicken, or vegetable gyoza in a single layer, undisturbed, until golden underneath, about 2 minutes. Pour 3 Tbsp. water into skillet, quickly cover, and cook until gyoza are cooked through and deep golden brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Transfer gyoza to reserved platter with labneh mixture.
Step 4
Reduce heat to low and melt 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter in skillet. Cook 1 tsp. Aleppo-style pepper, ½ tsp. ground cumin, ¼ tsp. smoked paprika, and ¼ tsp. Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt, swirling pan, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour half of chile butter into a small bowl; set aside.
Step 5
Add 1 bunch Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn, a pinch of salt, and 2 Tbsp. water to chile butter in pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted, about 2 minutes. Spoon over gyoza.
Step 6
Spoon reserved chile butter over gyoza; top with pine nuts and 2 Tbsp. torn mint leaves.
How would you rate Gyoza and Greens With Chile Butter?
Leave a Review
Reviews (11)
Back to TopI thought this would either be really great or an awful combination of flavors and HOLY CRAP it did not disappoint! Do yourself a favor and make this immediately. I used rainbow chard and red pepper flakes but next time I think I’ll try it out with crushed Sichuan peppercorns, also doubled the mint and added some thinly sliced scallion greens. Delicious!
Pawely D
Chicago
9/20/2022
Delicious and easy! I used a mix of veggie and chicken gyoza and did make extra sauce. I used regular curly kale, as that's what I have in my garden. You could use any sturdier green, like chard, etc. Spinach likely wouldn't be as pleasing from a texture perspective. I served this with rice and also made the stir-fried udon dish to go along with this. For a lighter appetite this would make a fine main dish. I just live with big eaters ;)
jjeichner
Redmond, WA
9/28/2022
I love this recipe! The combination of flavors and textures is surprising and delightful. I made a few substitutions based on what I had: for the greens, a combination of curly kale and gai lan (Chinese broccoli), and chopped walnuts instead of pine nuts. This is going to be a favorite weeknight meal because it's both easy to make and packed with flavor. The chili butter is *chef's kiss.*
Dana
New Haven, CT
10/12/2022
This is delicious! However, I did make some changes: Swiss chard for the kale (both for its taste and tenderness), regular yogurt instead of Greek for it's sourness (did not drain it), added lemon juice instead of water to the yogurt, substituted olive oil for most of the butter in the sauce and used a little less of it, and I used walnuts instead of pine nuts. I used vegetable pot stickers because that's all I could find at Whole Foods but, but I would like to try pork ones. Can't wait to make this easy main dish again!
Anonymous
Kansas City
10/22/2022
Love this recipe ! We make it all the time.
Anonymous
4/14/2023
This recipe was a huge hit. It was easy to make. I used chicken and vegetable dumplings. I substituted chopped spinach because it was on hand and I added some halved cherry tomatoes. All these flavors worked well together. The way I made it, the dish tasted like a fusion between Asian, Italian, and Latin. It was really good.
Danielle
Colorado
10/21/2023