In a town where every other person worked at a steel factory, it’s no wonder the original Yahata style gyozas are grilled on a cast-iron skillet.

The idea came to the owner of Tetsunabe Gyoza when he heard about a restaurant in Tokyo where they cooked in a cast-iron skillet. Without hesitation, he ordered some iron pans for himself and got to work.

But the cuisine at the Tokyo restaurant wasn’t remotely similar to gyoza-- it was spaghetti. It was quite the challenge to figure out how to use the cast-iron pan for his gyoza.

His hard work paid off and Tetsunabe Gyoza has become widely popular throughout Japan. Even to this day, people come from all over the country to taste it.