How to make Korean Dumplings
My Mandoo recipe

Korean Dumplings known as Mandoo are very tasty, enjoyed throughout the year but mainly at special occasions such as the Chinese New Year and thanksgiving for example. Mandoo is made from a mixture of meat, vegetables or kimchi and wrapped in dumpling paper (making your own or ready-made). 

Once made they can be cooked in a variety of ways, they can be steamed, fried or boiled. Making these from scratch is one of the most difficult recipes on my site but certainly worth the effort. Having some Korean mandoo ready made in the freezer is really useful, as you can add a few to soup or noodle dishes to add some meat of flavour.

You can purchase mandoo paper ready made either frozen or fresh from most Asian supermarkets.

Making mandoo does take some time and preparation, I have though tried to make this as easy as possible and included a number of pictures to illustrate.

I have used the following Ingredients: 

• 800g of Minced meats (I used a half of beef and a half of pork)
• 200g of Tofu 
• 100g or 1 pack of beansprouts
• A handful of chives
• 1 onion
• 200g of kimchi (chopped and squeezed --optional)
• 100g of glass noodles
• 4 Spring Onions 
• 2 cloves of garlic (puree or crushed)
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder and pinch of black pepper for seasoning

Making dumpling papers

• 400g Plain flour
• 150-200ml warm water
• 1tsp of salts

First, you start making dumpling papers if you wish and mix the ingredients above together into a dough and wrap it in cling film. Then keep it in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Once out of the fridge, knead the dough, shape it and slice them as shown in the picture in 3-5cm size.

Making Mandoo filling

While the dough is proving, it’s time to make the filling for your mandoo.

If you are using glass noodles, these need to be soaked in water for 1 hour and then cooked by boiling in a pan until soft (like pasta), drain and then wash in cold water before chopping them into short pieces.

Chop beansprouts, onions, spring onions or kimchi into small pieces.

If you are using Tofu, squeeze this to remove as much excess water as possible and then add crushed garlic and all ingredients into a big bowl.

Mix with minced meat and season. Using your hands is best here.

Making the Dumplings

Put about a half of tablespoon of this mixture into each dumpling paper, and dab water around the edge of the paper, this makes it sticky and will help to seal it, once sealed pinch the edge to create some folds as shown.

You can make different shape and be more creative if you wish. Do this until you have filled all the dumpling papers. You can cook these in a number of different ways:

You can cook Korean Mandoo in several ways:

• Frying - These can be fried in a pan for about 5 minutes.
• Boiled - You can boil dumplings in boiling water for about 5-10 minutes, or add to soups or noodle dishes. 
• Steamed - Korean dumplings can also be steamed and this takes about 10 minutes in a streamer or bamboo steamer.

Once finished serve on a plate with some soy sauce for dipping and enjoy. The dumplings in the picture's have been fried in a frying pan. 

Korean Dumplings are often added to soups with rice cakes in new year’s. I have made a simple soup above and added some dumplings that have been boiled and cooked in the soup. 

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