The cooler temperatures of fall awaken my craving for juicy steamed dumplings, which are called mandu (만두) in Korean. Mandu (만두) is fun to make together with family members. Traditionally Koreans do not use recipes and make things “to taste”. This is based off of my family’s northern-style “recipe” for large, steamed or boiled mandu – these are not meant to be fried. The taste is milder than typical fried gyoza and warms the soul.
Yield: 64 pieces, 2250g, about 8 servings of 8 만두 each
Ingredients:
속 Filling:
- Ground Pork 1 kg (can also do ground beef, or half-half beef and pork)
- Firm tofu, 1 to 1.5 blocks (1 block = 1 square package)
- Green cabbage, 1/4 – 1/3 head, diced
- 부추 garlic chives, 1 bundle, rinsed and diced. (Diced Frozen OK)
- Minced garlic, the more the merrier (at least 5 cloves)
- Ginger, finely minced, about ½ thumb-sized amount
- Sesame oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
만두피 Wrapper:
Round, pre-packaged dumpling skins, at frozen section at Hmart. For 1 kg of ground pork, I used (2) 310g or 10.9 oz packages.
양념간장 Seasoned Soy sauce:
No measurements, make to taste
- Soy sauce, Sempio 701 is the best
- Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds, toasted white
- Garlic, minced
- Chives
- Gochugaru chili flakes, 1 pinch
Tools:
- Disposable glove
- Large bowl
- Trays
- Steamer (I use a large pot + silicone steamer rack)
Directions
- Defrost mandu skins and any frozen ingredients.
- Mince all veggies
- In a large bowl, mix the ground pork and tofu. A gloved hand is best. Then mix in remaining filling ingredients.
- Take a spoonful of filling and fry. Taste the level of salt. It should taste slightly saltier than desired for final product. Adjust salt to taste.
- Set up ‘mandu filling’ station on a dining table with bowl of water, trays, mandu skins, fillings, and 1 spoon per person.
- Wet fingertip with water to moisten the edge along one mandu skin.
- Fill in the mandu skins and fold. Watch a video for how to do this. Each family does this slightly differently.
- Place folded mandu on tray.
- Steam or boil in broth, and serve with seasoned soy sauce.
Preserve:
Freeze mandu on trays so they don’t stick together, then move frozen pieces into large ziploc bags. Steam or boil frozen mandu when desired.
Variations:
Make the wrappers from scratch. My family is loyal to 곰표-brand flour.
Add 당면 noodles to the filling.
Adjust the ratio of meat to tofu 두부.
Add other diced veggies to filling like shiitake mushrooms.
Nest Cafe ~ Cafe Nido 