Frozen gyoza specialist Day-Lee Pride has introduced a new range of Umami Gyoza Dumplings to the United States retail market. Three varieties of dumplings, also known as potstickers, are featured: Chicken & Leek, Chicken & Shiitake, and Pork & Leek.
Umami is a highly valued and sought after flavor in Asian cooking that’s delivered through the breakdown of protein in umami ingredients, which release glutamates to generate savory flavors.
Positioned as “a better value than take-out,” the fully cooked, heat-and-serve Umami Gyoza Dumplings can be paired with soy sauce and other sweet or savory dips for consumption as a pre-dinner appetizer or daytime snack. They may also be tossed into a soup or served as a side dish.
Made with Asian-style cut chicken leg meat and premium pork with no preservatives, trans fats, artificial colors or added MSG, the three offerings contain different blends of rich, umami ingredients such as kombu (edible kelp), nira (Chinese leek), soy sauce, garlic and shiitake mushrooms.
“Umami has grown in demand as consumer buzz for savory flavor profiles has increased,” said Craig Jaunzemis, director of marketing at Santa Fe Springs, California-based Day-Lee Pride. “Literally translated as ‘deeply pleasurable savory taste,’ Umami is the fifth taste, alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty, and is a very popular flavor profile in Asian cuisine.”
Joining the brand’s existing varieties of gyoza – Chicken, Sriracha Chicken, Beef, Pork, Shrimp and Vegetable – and its Karaage Chicken entrée, the fully cooked line of Umami Gyoza Dumplings has been formulated to deliver restaurant-quality taste to one’s home dinner table in five minutes or less. Easy to prepare through pan-frying, deep-frying, microwaving, steaming or by adding to soups, each 21-oz. bag contains four servings at only 330 calories each, and packs 10 grams of protein per serving.
The range is now rolling out to national and local retailers across the United States, including Mitsuwa Market, Marukai, Tokyo Central, Nijiya Market, 99 Ranch Market, H-Mart and other Asian grocery stores.
Day-Lee Pride is a unit of parent company Day Lee Foods, Inc. The wholly owned subsidiary of NH Foods, Inc. (Nipponham Group, Japan’s largest meat processor) has been delivering quality meat products to foodservice and retail markets for more than 30 years. In addition the Day-Lee Pride label, another of its familiar retail brands is Crazy Cuizine.
