For the past week, my food of choice has been gyoza, a Chinese dumpling filled with meat and vegetables (usually cabbage). The dough is thicker and chewier than wonton dough, and overall, they are much better than wontons. I ate gyoza four times in the past week: twice at ramen shops and twice from 7-11 lunch boxes. The ramen shop gyoza is better (duh), but I'll take what I can get. I only noticed the gyoza at 7-11 this week, and since their items seem to be "limited-time only," I'll eat it as it pleases me.
Let us speak of gyoza. They're a fairly simple creation when you think about it: meat (usually pork) and vegetables (mostly garlic and cabbage) wrapped in dough and pan-fried. It's an interesting texture combination: one side is crispy from being pan-fried, while the top of the dumpling is softer from being steamed. Obviously, they're best served hot. You dip them in a tare sauce, which is soy-based, and depending on your tastes, you can add rice vinegar and a red-chili sauce to it as well. I usually just use the chili sauce, just a little bit. Soooooo yummy.
I had never had gyoza before coming to Japan, though a form of them is also popular in North American, where they're called potstickers. Being a Chinese food, they're often found in Chinese restaurants, and there's also a Korean version of them too. Fillings can be varied with them, while it appears that the Japanese versions are pretty standard. That doesn't mean that flavors don't change just a bit. Subtlety always intringues me.
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