Gyōza — the Japanese version of Chinese potsticker dumplings — can be found everywhere in Japan, but in recent years, Utsunomiya in Tochigi has made them a major part of the city’s brand.
Part of the reason is AQ Foods, which was founded by Hisashi and Ayako Kuwano in 1965 as Eikyu Shokuhin and has been operating one of the city’s largest wholesale gyōza businesses. Its products can be found in department stores and supermarkets across the nation. In an age of automation, AQ is a rarity in that it still produces hand-made gyōza alongside the machine-made variety.
The Kuwanos handed down the family business to their son-in-law, Albert, who arrived in Japan in 1991 and married the Kuwanos’ only daughter. AQ now produces more than a dozen varieties of gyōza and manjū dumplings, with its flagship product being a hand-made jumbo gyōza that weighs 50 grams — more than double the size of a regular gyōza. “Gyōza is made all over Japan, but the ones made in Utsunomiya are the best and I strive to improve our product every day so I can say ours is No. 1,” says Koichi Chiba, the manager of one of AQs factories in Utsunomiya. (Video by Chisato Tanaka)
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AloJapan.com