Mandu is the Korean word for dumpling, and also holds a very fond place in my heart. If I had to choose one type of dumpling to eat for the rest of my life, it would definitely be these kimchi dumplings or these pork and chive dumplings. The reason why I decided to make these dumplings in the first place was because my mom sent me a batch of homemade kimchi from Korea.
The kimchi is truly the star of these dumplings, but they are also stuffed with pork, tofu, glass noodles, chives, and green onion. I spent the better part of a day wrapping these dumplings into my two favorite shapes. I like to use the circular wrapped mandu for boiling or steaming and the crescent shaped mandu for frying! I bought my dumpling wrappers at my local Korean market, but you can also find them at any Asian grocery store. If you are having a hard time finding dumpling wrappers, you can also make your own at home.
My favorite way to eat these kimchi mandu are steamed, fried and added into dduk guk (rice cake soup.) These dumplings are perfect for making in bulk and putting in your freezer. One tip for freezing your dumplings is to make sure you freeze them slightly without them touching each other before tossing them in a bag to freeze fully. This will prevent the dumplings from sticking together!
If you need some pointers on how to wrap dumplings in this shape, check out this video tutorial below for some pointers! It definitely takes some practice, but it is well worth the effort.
Kimchi Mandu Recipe (Kimchi Dumpling Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 bundles Korean chives Buchu, 부추 OPTIONAL
- 5 oz Cellophane/Glass Noodles Dangmyun
- 1 pack Firm tofu
- 1 Large green onion
- 1 lb Ground pork
- 8 cloves Garlic
- 3 tbsp Perilla oil
- 3 tbsp Rice wine
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tsp Grated ginger
- Pepper
- 3 cups Fermented kimchi Chopped and packed, add up to 4 cups if you love kimchi
- 1 ladle Kimchi juice
- 60 Dumpling wrappers
Instructions
- Put ground pork in a bowl with 8 cloves minced garlic, perilla oil and rice wine. Set aside for 10 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in your cellophane noodles and cook for about 5-8 minutes until softened. Drain and rinse afterwards, place in a bowl and drizzle with a little perilla oil. Chop into small pieces with some scissors.
- Finely chop green onion, Korean chives and kimchi. Take your tofu and place it in a cheese cloth, squeeze to get rid of as much moisture as possible. Add chopped vegetables, kimchi, tofu and cellophane noodles to a large bowl.
- Add in soy sauce, kimchi juice, pepper and ginger. Mix thoroughly.
- Wrap the dumplings (check out my video for instructions.) To steam, add the dumplings to a steamer for about 5 minutes. To fry, cook them on a pan over medium heat for about 6 minutes, flipping once.
Notes
- If you are not eating them immediately, you can freeze them but make sure to put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes not touching each other first before consolidating them into a bag or tupperware.
