Chinese stickers tend to be dougher and have a thicker wrapper, while gyoza have a very thin wrapper that is better suited to frying on Japanese teppan plates. Pierogi meatballs, a traditional peasant food from Poland, may have a similar shape to gyoza, but they taste very different. Gyozas have a thinner meatball wrapper and are filled with finely chopped filling. On paper, the two delicious treats are similar, but have subtly different flavors and textures.
Gyoza are usually smaller and their packaging is crispier than Chinese stickers for pots. The delicate wrapper gives more prominence to its filling, which is usually a combination of ground beef and vegetables with an emphasis on garlic. Chinese stickers for pots are pastier with a thicker wrapper and less suitable for frying. They have less garlic flavor than gyoza and can be filled with all types of meats and vegetables (via Yum Of China).
Chinese stickers, which are dougher, have a thicker wrapper, while gyoza are much thinner and are better fried in Japanese teppan. Pierogi, a traditional food for Polish farmers, may look similar to gyoza, but it tastes different. Yes, there are several different types of meatballs, but knowing the dumpling referred to in the phrase “gyoza” versus the dumpling is easier if you remember that gyoza has a “twin dumpling”. After World War II, Japanese soldiers who had been in China during the war returned to their homes and wanted to recreate the jiaozi dumplings they ate while in China.
However, there are still a few things that would help you differentiate between the two if you placed a plate with fried gyoza and stickers for Chinese pots right in front of you. Traditional Chinese meatballs are a popular dish around the world, and countries and cultures are increasingly trying to adapt them. Given the proximity of the two countries and their shared culinary history, it's not surprising that there's some confusion about whether gyoza is a Japanese or Chinese dish. Chinese dumplings, or more specifically pot stickers, have been served for thousands of years in various regions of China.
Sushi is a popular dish on the menu of Japanese restaurants and in street food; you may have noticed it on the menu at a Japanese restaurant or in the street food you've recently eaten. When they returned home, the Japanese soldiers didn't see the stickers on the pots and decided to invent their own Japanese version with ingredients from their own land (through the Shogun). During World War II, the Japanese fell in love with China's jiaozi while occupying Manchuria. The term “dumpling” isn't tied to a single dish, although most people tend to conjure up the image of a Chinese dumpling when they hear the word.
Rather than choosing which recipe they like best, most people find it difficult to really differentiate between these foods. The term “gyoza”, which is derived from the Chinese word for meatballs, is highly prized in East Asian countries. Now that that has been clarified, keep in mind that the dumpling from now on will be the Chinese dumpling. It is traditionally eaten on the eve of the Chinese New Year and on other special days, although it is also eaten throughout the year.
