Gyoza Mimi 餃子耳

Really, everyday you learn something new.

Ahjussi colleague in my team is practicing various martial arts. He has black belt in Karate and is teaching kakutougi and goshinjutsu. Currently is pursuing an Okinawan kobudo black belt. He has done taekwondo, krav maga, Brazilian jiujitsu. I don’t know what other martial arts he did. Maybe he has tried wushu, muay thai, and capoeira. I don’t know.

Let me give him a name. Maybe Lee Minho. Then I told Minho-san (not Minho-ssi because we are in Japan) that one guy from our client company is also doing Brazilian Jiujitsu.

“Does he have gyoza mimi?”

What is gyoza mimi? And, why would we pay attention on people’s ear? If you meet people, you don’t see their ear, right? We usually first see their….. neck.

Kidding. Not funny but it’s okay. 

So I checked what is gyoza mimi. 

In Japan, the phenomenon is called as gyoza mimi or dumpling ear. It is internationally known as cauliflower ear.

Gyoza mimi is a permanent condition of deformity of the ear that resembles dumpling or cauliflower. It occurs when someone gets repeated hits to the ear. When the outer ear is hit, it will develop a blood clot and will separate the cartilage from its nutrients supplier. This can cause the tissue to become hard and permanently swollen and deformed, resembling a gyoza.

It is a common condition to people who are doing Brazilian jiujitsu, boxing, wrestling, judo, and rugby.

I see.

Unfortunately, we will work at home until next notice so I have no chance to check soon whether the guy from the client company has gyoza mimi. I don’t think he has but let me check.

For now, I will just check random people’s ears I see on a train or on the street. Will I find someone has gyoza mimi?

By the way, after seeing the pictures of gyoza mimi, I feel I don’t have appetite to eat gyoza anymore… 

Do you have gyoza mimi? Show me! 🥟🥟

Note: 

kakutougi (格闘技) = Japanese word for martial arts?

goshinjutsu (護身術) = self-defense

-ssi (씨 /  氏 ) = Korean honorific

gyoza mimi (餃子耳) = dumpling ear