00:00One wrapper, two textures.
00:02Crispy and lacy on the bottom, soft and chewy on top, all in a single bite.
00:07That contrast is the homemade skin doing the work.
00:10Let me show you how, starting with the flour.
00:13Measure 100g of unbleached cake flour and 100g of bread flour into a large heatproof bowl.
00:20The cake flour keeps the wrapper tender.
00:22The bread flour gives it the stretch to roll thin without tearing.
00:26The alternative idea is using 100% all purpose flour instead of cake bread mixture.
00:32Add 30g of mochiko.
00:34This one is optional but it is the small secret that pushes the chew toward that sticky mochi mochi quality
00:40you do not get from a store wrapper.
00:44If you don't have it, just make it up with 15g each of cake and bread mixture.
00:50Rub in one teaspoon of lard with your fingertips before any water goes in.
00:54Do this now while the flour is dry.
00:57The fat coats each flour particle the same way batter coats flour in a pie crust.
01:02So the dough later stretches thinner without tearing.
01:07Stir the flours together with chopsticks so everything is even.
01:10Now the water.
01:11Pour 115g of freshly boiled water, that is 90-100 degrees celsius, into a jug.
01:18And stir in half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar until they dissolve.
01:27Drizzle the hot water into the flour in a steady stream.
01:31Stir in hard with chopsticks the whole time.
01:34Chopsticks knock your hands for two reasons.
01:36The mixture is dangerously hot.
01:39And chopsticks spread the water evenly so you do not get dry lumps that never hydrate.
01:45Keep stirring until the flour pulls into shaggy, crumbly clumps.
01:50It looks rough and uneven.
01:52And that is exactly right.
01:54Let it cool until you can handle it.
01:57Here is the part that surprises people.
01:59You would think boiling water makes a tough, hard dough.
02:03It does the opposite.
02:04At 90 degrees celsius and above, the starch in the flour swirls and gelatinizes in seconds.
02:12And that is what gives this wrapper its soft, pillable, mochi mochi body.
02:17At the same time, the heat relaxes the gluten before it can turn springy and stubborn.
02:24Hot water is the master variable here.
02:26It is the single choice that decides whether your wrap turns out chewy on top and crispy on the bottom.
02:34Tip the dough onto a clean surface and bring it together with your hands.
02:39Press it away from you with the heel of your palm.
02:43Fold it back.
02:44Turn it 90 degrees and go again.
02:47Knead like this for 5 to 10 minutes.
02:51You're looking for a surface that is smooth and slightly glossy.
02:54Press it with a finger.
02:56If the dent springs back slowly, it is done.
03:00In Japan, the benchmark is the softness of an earlobe.
03:04By hand, oven kneading is almost impossible, so don't be shy here.
03:09Rub a thin film of oil over the dough.
03:12Cover it and let it rest at room temperature.
03:1515 to 20 minutes in summer.
03:1730 to 45 minutes in a cold winter kitchen.
03:21Use this time.
03:22Get your gilza filling ready while the dough sleeps so nothing waits around.
03:27I'm using my classic pork gilza filling today.
03:30So put 150 grams of finely chopped cabbage in a bowl.
03:34Sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt.
03:36Rub it in and leave it for 10 minutes.
03:39Then squeeze every drop of water out.
03:42This keeps the filling from going watery.
03:45In a large bowl, mix 200 grams of ground pork with half a tablespoon of soy sauce,
03:51half a tablespoon of oyster sauce, half a teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of black pepper.
03:56Work it until it is smooth.
04:01Add the squeezed cabbage.
04:0330 grams of garlic chives.
04:051 tablespoon of grated ginger.
04:082 cloves of minced garlic.
04:1050 grams of finely diced Japanese leek.
04:13And 1 tablespoon of lard.
04:15Mix with your hands until even.
04:18Then add 1 tablespoon of warm water.
04:20And mix it through for a juicier filling.
04:24This is ready to go, so cover and keep it in the fridge until it's time to assemble.
04:30Okay, the rest is up.
04:31So, knead the dough for just 30 seconds to wake it up.
04:35Now, dust your surface generously with potato starch.
04:38And dust the dough too.
04:40Use starch never wheat flour for this.
04:42Wheat flour sucks into the dough and turns the wrapper heavy.
04:46Starch just sits on the surface and stops things sticking.
04:51Flatten the dough by hand.
04:53Roll it with a pin to about 1cm thick.
04:57And cut it into strips that fit your pasta machine.
05:01Feed each strip through on the wider setting.
05:05Then, step the thickness down one notch at a time until you reach 1mm.
05:12For my Atlas machine, that is setting 5-6.
05:16You might assume thinner is better since store-ball wrappers are thinner.
05:20But homemade dough has more elasticity than factory seats.
05:25And below 1mm, it deforms and tears in your hands.
05:301mm is the sweet spot, but treat it as a target, not a rule for everyone.
05:35If you are still building confidence folding gilza, or the dough feels sticky to handle,
05:40roll it a notch earlier so it's slightly thicker on purpose.
05:45The thinner you go, the harder is to pleat and seal without tearing.
05:50A thicker skin speaks up more in the finished bite, which is delicious in its own right,
05:56and far better than a wrapper that splits as you fold.
06:01The one line I hold firm on, even once you're confident, never roll below 1mm.
06:08If you want to do this without a pass machine, check out my recipe post for how.
06:13Lay the sheet on the dusty surface and cut your circles with an 8-9cm cutter.
06:20I use 8.5cm. A slightly bigger circle is easier to fill and fold,
06:26which matters more with handmade dough than with store-bought.
06:31Now the moment from my own kitchen, I want you to get right.
06:35Once the circles are cut, dust them again properly.
06:38If you skimp on the dusting here, especially on a humid summer day when the flour has already
06:45pulled moisture from the air, the wrappers stick to each other.
06:49If that happens, it is not the end of the world, but you have to gather everything back into cohesive
06:56dough, roll it in all over again, and cut every circle a second time.
07:01So, the moment a surface even looks like it might attack, hit it with more stats.
07:08Freaking dusting is everything here. I learned the hard way.
07:11Good dusting now saves the whole butt.
07:15Gather the scraps, press them together, and round them through once more.
07:20Cut until the dough runs out with an 8.5cm cutter like mine.
07:26You will get about 32 wrappers from this batch.
07:29Which is exactly what my Gilza recipe is built around, so the two line up perfectly.
07:36That is the wrapper done, and it is the hard part behind you.
07:40Now, let it earn its place in a real Gilza.
07:44One honest thing to keep in mind before you fold, the stretchy soft texture that makes a homemade
07:50wrapper special is also what makes it a little harder to handle than a store bought one.
07:56That softness is the flow and the charm in the same breath.
08:01Expect the folding to take a touch more care, and do not let it throw you if it feels different
08:07from the stiff factory skins you are used to.
08:11Grab a wrapper and put about a tablespoon of filling in the center, leaving a finger with border.
08:17Wear the edge with water, and fold it in half without sealing yet.
08:22Pinch one corner, then make small pleads along the edge, and press each one down to close it.
08:29Tap the base flat against the corner, so it will crispy evenly.
08:34Homemade wrappers are more fragile than store bought, so do not let the filled Gilza sit around.
08:40Cook them right away, or freeze them filled and uncooked for later.
08:45One of the advantages of homemade wrappers is because they are stretchy, you can close the ends properly.
08:52That means the juice stays in the wrapper, and this leads to the juiciest Gilza.
09:02Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil.
09:06Lay the Gilza in a single layer, bottoms flat on the pan, and cook for about a minute until the
09:12bottoms are crispy and brown.
09:15I am using cast iron today, I have used all sorts of pans to cook Gilza, and in my opinion,
09:21cast iron is the best.
09:23Add about 100ml of boiling water, and cover the pan straight away.
09:28Boiling water, not cold on purpose.
09:31Cold water would drop the pan temperature, and leave the wrapper soggy.
09:35Cover and steam for 4-5 minutes, giving the pan a small shake every so often.
09:42Take the lid off, turn the heat to high, and add 1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil.
09:48Cook 30 seconds more.
09:50The crispy bottom and that mochi mochi chew add a wrapper doing the work,
09:55and the juicy filling just rides along.
09:58Play the Gilza onto a serving dish.
10:01Crispy side up, and a dipping sauce of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and chili oil alongside.
10:08And this is the wrapper finally paying you back.
10:11That is what one batch of hot water dough looks like after 40 minutes.
10:17Make it your next weekend project, and level up your Gilza to something special.
10:21Google Gilza wrapper statue for the full printable recipe with exact measurements and timing.
10:28Want even more delicious recipes?
10:30Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
10:33Tap the recipe card on your screen for the full printable version with exact measurements,
10:39every timing, and notes for getting each step right.
10:42Next time, I'm making homemade chashu.
10:46See you then.
