A black plate with whole and halved pan-fried oyaki stuffed buns, revealing mushroom and orange sweet potato fillings, sits on a dark surface. A pair of chopsticks and a cup of green tea are nearby.

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As the weather chills and you spend more time in the comfort of your home, I thought it would be nice to share a fun Japanese dumpling recipe that will keep you busy in the kitchen. You – and maybe your kids too – get to play with flour, making the dough from scratch, and stuffing the dumplings with your favorite fillings!

I love making Oyaki (おやき) – Japanese Stuffed Dumplings – this time of year. They are such delicious comfort food on cold days, so I just had to introduce them to you today.

What is Oyaki?

Oyaki (おやき) are stuffed dumplings that originated in Nagano Prefecture. The chewy oyaki dough is made from wheat flour or a mixture of wheat flour and buckwheat flour and stuffed with a variety of yummy fillings. The fillings are generally made from vegetarian ingredients such as fresh seasonal vegetables, mushrooms, beans, or pickles.

These rustic, homemade oyaki dumplings have played an important role in Nagano’s regional cuisine for generations. Located in central Japan, Nagano has steep mountains and a cold climate, so rice cultivation was very difficult. Instead, soba (buckwheat) became the main crop, with Nagano yielding the 2nd highest production by volume in Japan, only behind Hokkaido.

Oyaki may not be fancy food, but these humble treats from Nagano are a symbol of necessity, comfort, and sustainability.

A bamboo tray holds several pan-fried oyaki dumplings with translucent skins, some filled with yellow sweet potato and others with a darker filling, stacked and overlapping on a dark wooden surface.

How Oyaki is Cooked

Oyaki were traditionally cooked and charred in the ash of an open fire in an irori (囲炉裏) hearth. These days, oyaki at specialty stores are typically roasted on an iron pan, then either steamed or broiled before enjoying piping hot.

To cook oyaki at home, you can try one of these methods:

  • Steamed
  • Pan-fried then steamed
  • Steamed and then pan-fried
  • Deep-fried

Personally, I like to pan-fry oyaki first to give them a nice char, and then steam till they are cooked. But I encourage you to try a few methods to find your favorite way of preparing Japanese stuffed dumplings.

A close-up of a plate of pan-fried dumplings, reminiscent of traditional oyaki, some cut open to reveal colorful vegetable fillings, including an orange-yellow squash puree and a dark green filling.

The type of fillings (or An 餡 in Japanese) for oyaki vary with region, with each area having its own local specialty. Today’s Oyaki recipe includes sweet and savory kabocha squash and miso-glazed eggplant fillings. They are very popular fillings for Japanese dumplings.

But there are endless choices of ingredients to stuff oyaki with. Here’s a list to give you some ideas to play with:

  • Nozawana (a pickled leafy green famous in Nagano)
  • Various mushrooms
  • Kiriboshi Daikon (recipe coming soon!)
  • Negimiso (leeks and miso)
  • Walnut miso
  • Hijiki seaweed dressed with walnut
  • Sweet azuki read beans (anko)
  • Sesame miso
  • Potatoes
  • Fukinoto (butterbur sprout)
  • Fukinoto miso
  • Warabi (bracken)
  • Japanese sweet potatoes
  • Gobo (burdock root)
  • Kinpira Gobo
  • Local Shinshu salmon
  • Jidori chicken
  • Apple

These ingredients are often seasoned with soy sauce or miso for savory dumplings and sweetened with sugar for sweet dumplings. The dough doesn’t have much taste, so make sure to add extra flavor to the fillings so the oyaki won’t taste bland.

There are so many creative fillings and seasonings to try. Have fun experimenting with new flavors!

How to Serve Oyaki

Oyaki is a great snack or side dish for a meal. Serve oyaki with a cold beer in the summer and hot tea in the winter. And when you have a chance to visit Nagano Prefecture, don’t forget to try these healthy and delicious snacks in specialty shops and food stalls!

A black plate with Korean hotteok pancakes, some filled with dark brown sweet filling and others with bright orange filling, sliced to show the insides. Reminiscent of Japanese oyaki, these pancakes reveal a tempting variety of colorful fillings in every bite.

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Oyaki (Japanese Stuffed Dumplings)

4.80 from 44 votes
by Namiko Hirasawa Chen
A black plate holds sliced and whole Korean stuffed pancakes, reminiscent of oyaki, with yellow sweet potato and dark bean paste fillings visible. A cup of tea sits nearby.
Stuffed with sweet kabocha squash and miso-glazed eggplant, these Oyaki Japanese dumplings are a popular snack in Nagano Prefecture in central Japan.
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Prep: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Resting: 30 minutes
Total: 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients 
 

Servings: 12 pieces

For the Dough

For the Eggplant Filling

For the Kabocha Filling

  • 12 oz kabocha squash (¼ kabocha with seeds)
  • 1 Tbsp neutral oil
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 Tbsp sugar (you can reduce if you‘d like; if you prefer a more savory taste, you can increase the amount of soy sauce but you will need to add some sugar to balance out the salty flavor and can‘t omit it completely)
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 pinch Diamond Crystal kosher salt

For Cooking

Instructions

  • Gather all the ingredients.
    Various ingredients for making oyaki are arranged on a wooden surface: sliced pumpkin, shiso leaf, two eggplants, flour in a bowl, small bowls of liquids and powders, and a measuring cup with water.

To Make Dough

  • Using a fine-mesh strainer, sift 2½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) into a large bowl. Combine 200 ml boiling water (1 cup minus 2½ Tbsp), 1 tsp neutral oil, and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
    Three-step process: flour sifted into a bowl for making oyaki, water and salt being combined, and a whisk mixing the liquid in a Pyrex measuring cup on a wooden surface.
  • Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients with chopsticks until you can pick up the dough with your hands.
    Two images: Left, water is poured into a bowl of flour with chopsticks—a classic first step in making oyaki; right, hands use chopsticks to mix the flour and water into a rough dough. Both bowls rest on a wooden surface.
  • Use the dough to pick up the crumbs in the bowl.
    Two images side by side show hands kneading and mixing oyaki dough in a clear glass bowl, with flour visible on the hands and in the bowl.
  • Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 3 minutes, until a smooth dough forms. In Japan, we say “knead until the texture is like your earlobe.”
    Two images show hands kneading dough for oyaki on a floured marble surface. The left image shows folding the dough, while the right image shows shaping it into a smooth oval.
  • Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or longer. Letting the dough rest increases its elasticity making it easier to work with later, so please don‘t skip.
    Two images: Left, a ball of oyaki dough in a glass bowl. Right, the same bowl with dough, now covered in plastic wrap, sitting on a marble surface.

To Make the Eggplant Filling

  • While the dough rests, make the fillings. Remove the stems of 2 Japanese or Chinese eggplants and cut it half lengthwise. Then, slice into half circles. Soak in water for 5–10 minutes. (Meanwhile, you can cut the kabocha). Drain well and set aside.
    Three-panel image: first, hands slicing an eggplant for oyaki; second, sliced eggplant soaking in a glass bowl of water; third, sliced eggplant draining in a mesh strainer over a bowl.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil in a large frying pan and sauté the eggplant until it is coated with oil. Cover the lid and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
    A hand pours oil into a frying pan, then chopped eggplant—perfect for making oyaki—cooks in the pan, and finally the pan is covered with a lid while the eggplant steams.
  • When tender, add 1 Tbsp sugar and combine well.
    Two side-by-side images: sliced eggplant cooking in a pan; in the second image, a hand is adding a small bowl of sugar to the cooked eggplant—a classic preparation step for making savory oyaki.
  • Add 1 Tbsp miso. Add 2 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) that you‘ve julienned into thin strips. Mix well together. Transfer to a dish to let cool.
    Two side-by-side images: Left, sliced eggplant in a pan with a spatula adding a paste, reminiscent of the initial steps in preparing oyaki. Right, the eggplant is cooked down and mixed, appearing softer and more blended together.

To Make the Kabocha Filling

  • Cut 12 oz kabocha squash into smaller wedges and remove the skin. (See my post on How To Cut a Kabocha Squash.)
    Two images show hands cutting a slice of kabocha squash—one cuts through the orange flesh, and the other removes the green skin with a knife on a wooden cutting board. This process is often used when preparing ingredients for oyaki, a traditional Japanese stuffed dumpling.
  • Cut each wedge into thin slices and then cut into thin strips.
    Two photos show hands slicing and julienning orange vegetables, likely carrots or squash, with a large knife on a wooden cutting board—preparing ingredients that might be used for making oyaki.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in the frying pan and sauté the kabocha. When it’s coated with oil, add ¼ cup water and cook covered for 5 minutes on low heat.
    Three images show oil being poured into a pan, julienned yellow vegetables added, and the vegetables being stirred while cooking—capturing the initial steps of preparing a flavorful oyaki filling.
  • Add 1 Tbsp sugar and combine well.
    Split image: Left, a hand adds sugar to julienned yellow vegetables in a skillet for an oyaki filling. Right, the vegetables are being stirred with a spatula as they cook.
  • Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 pinch Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Mix well together.
    Two images: One shows a hand pouring soy sauce over sliced yellow vegetables in a pan, as part of preparing oyaki; the other shows a hand sprinkling salt over the same vegetables while they cook in the pan.
  • Transfer to the dish to let cool.
    Cooked eggplant slices and shredded carrots are arranged in two separate piles on a white rectangular plate with a blue border, evoking the presentation style often seen with oyaki, a traditional Japanese dumpling dish.

To Shape into Oyaki

  • Roll out the rested dough into a rectangular or circle shape and divide it into 12 pieces.
    Three photos show hands using a metal dough scraper to cut a log of dough into smaller pieces on a floured marble surface, demonstrating step-by-step oyaki dough preparation.
  • Make each dough into a ball then press down with your hand.
    Two images: hands shaping oyaki dough; first, a ball of dough is rolled between palms, second, the oyaki dough is pressed flat on a floured surface.
  • Stretch the dough to 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter. The important trick is to keep the center thicker than the edges. Using your fingers, stretch the outer edges by rotating the dough. This way, when you pinch the dough to seal, the dough won’t be too thick/too much.
    Two close-up photos show hands shaping oyaki dough on a floured surface: one pressing flat with a palm, the other pinching the edge to form a sealed seam.
  • Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling in the center of each piece of dough. Close the oyaki by bringing the dough up over the filling, pinching at the top to seal.
    Two images showing hands filling dough circles: the left with a spoon of mushroom filling, the right with chunks of roasted squash—both preparing oyaki dumplings on a floured surface.
  • I use the same pleating technique as my Nikuman recipe (see the video on how I close the dough and pinch).
    Two close-up photos show hands folding and pinching dough around a filling, skillfully shaping oyaki dumplings before sealing them.
  • After pinching the dough, put the pinched-side down on a lightly floured surface and twist a few times. Then press the top of the oyaki a little bit into a slightly flat ball.
    Twelve round oyaki dough discs are arranged in rows on a parchment-lined baking tray, ready for baking.

To Cook the Oyaki

  • Set up a steamer by placing a steamer basket on top of a wok/pot filled with enough boiling water. Tip: If you don’t have a steamer, after cooking the oyaki in a frying pan, add ¼ cup water to the pan. Cover with a lid and steam it until the water evaporates.
    A hand presses oyaki dough onto a nonstick pan on the left. On the right, the pan is filled with round oyaki pieces, ready to be cooked.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in a frying pan (12 inch) and cook the oyaki, pinched-side down.
    Round, golden-brown buns—reminiscent of traditional oyaki—cook in a skillet on the left; similar buns with browned tops are arranged on a white surface on the right.
  • Pan-fry for 3–4 minutes each side, or until golden brown.
    Round, golden-brown buns—reminiscent of traditional oyaki—cook in a skillet on the left; similar buns with browned tops are arranged on a white surface on the right.
  • Transfer the oyaki to a steamer basket and cover to cook on high heat for 15–20 minutes (depending on the size of the oyaki and filling—a small one should take about 10 minutes). Make sure the lid is covered with a kitchen towel so the condensation on the lid doesn’t fall onto the oyaki.
    Left: Steamed oyaki buns with golden tops in a bamboo steamer. Right: Steamer covered with a cloth and clipped, cooking on the stove.
  • When they are done steaming, transfer to a wire rack (I use a bamboo strainer) where the heat can escape from the bottom.
    Round, browned oyaki dumplings sit on a mesh liner inside a bamboo steamer basket, shown both close-up and from above, arranged in a single layer and ready to serve.

To Serve and Store

  • Enjoy the Oyaki immediately. As soon as they become warm, not hot, cover the leftovers with plastic wrap (I wrap individually). Don’t wait until completely cooled down. You can freeze to store for up to a month, and re-steam to enjoy later.
    A bamboo tray holds eleven round, pan-fried oyaki dumplings with golden-brown spots on their surfaces.

Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 105mg, Potassium: 216mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 397IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 1mg

The nutrition facts shown are generated by an online calculator and are estimates only. Please consult a professional nutritionist for specific dietary needs.

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