Photos by Deb Gau A lesson in how to make Japanese gyoza, or dumplings, started with a demonstration of how to fold the dumpling wrappers. Taher corporate chef John Sugimura, at center, had Marshall High School students hold up their wrappers as he demonstrated the folding technique.

MARSHALL — By his count, Chef John Sugimura has made more than a million gyoza, or Japanese dumplings, in his lifetime. On Tuesday morning, it was a group of Marshall High School students’ turn to try making one.

As students worked with thin circles of dough, Sugimura went around the room giving pointers on how to properly fold the edges of the gyoza wrappers.

“If we fold it correctly, it will convey a Japanese dumpling,” he said. “If you fold it a different way, it could be a Chinese dumpling, or a Korean dumpling.”

Not everyone got it on their first try. But then, it is harder to fold a dumpling wrapper without the filling in the middle, Sugimura said.

Sharing Japanese culture and tasty, nutritious food were the two goals as Sugimura visited Marshall Public Schools this week. Sugimura, a corporate chef with Taher food service and executive chef at PinKU Japanese Street Food in Minneapolis, visited culinary classes at the high school and served yakitori chicken and noodles at both MHS and Marshall Middle School.

It was Sugimura’s second visit to the district. Last spring, his dish of Japanese karaage fried chicken and rice was a hit with Marshall students.

“Did you make the chicken last year?” one class member asked Tuesday. “That was so good,”

Japanese food is popular, but it also focuses on less processed, nutritious ingredients, Sugimura told students. For example, last year’s karaage don meal was filling, but also had a lot of protein, he said.

For a hands-on lesson, Sugimura walked MHS students through the process of making gyoza.

“It’s a 100-year-old recipe from my grandma,” Sugimura said. The dumplings are filled with a mix of ingredients including ground pork, cabbage and nira chives, and steamed in a pan.

Students got to help Sugimura prepare the dumplings, and plate them with sauce on a bed of red cabbage. The lesson also included a crash course in using chopsticks to eat the dumplings.

“It was good,” Gage Andries said after trying a couple of the finished gyoza.

Sugimura’s visit to Marshall this week is part of an ongoing tour of schools around the country. So far, he’s visited more than 50 schools, including MHS and MMS.

He said it’s a chance to share good food with kids during a difficult year.

“Food can make life a bit more light, even in a pandemic,” Sugimura said.