This recipe is for traditional, classic Korean dumplings, which everyone loves!
This is my original mandu recipe for pork, beef, and chive dumplings that I posted on May 3, 2008. It shows you how to make dumplings and then fry them or make soup from them. Since then I’ve posted more thorough and better mandu recipes but I’m keeping this classic recipe here for everyone who loves it and loves making it. It may be a little rougher or less clear than my more recent recipes!
Ingredients
Yield: 50 to 60 mandu
- 1 cup of ground pork
- 2 cups of ground beef
- 2 cups of chopped buchu (Asian chives)
- 4-5 soaked Shiitake mushrooms
- half onion
- half package of tofu
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- kosher salt
- sugar
- toasted sesame oil
- vegetable oil
- fish sauce
- egg
- green onion
- mandu skins (60 discs)
Directions
Make filling
- Place 1 cup of ground pork and 2 cups of ground beef into a big bowl.
- Add 1 ts of kosher salt, 1 tbs of toasted sesame oil, ½ ts of ground pepper and mix it by hand and push the mixture of meat on the side of the bowl.
- Wash some Asian chives (buchu), and dry well with a paper towel or cotton cloth. Chop them into 2 cups’ worth of chives. Add 1 tbs of oil and mix it up. Place it in the big bowl next to the ground meat. (tip: the oil coats the vegetables so they retain their moisture)
- Chop 4-5 soaked shiitake mushrooms and half an onion. Put them into a small bowl.
- Add 1 ts of soy sauce, 1 ts of sugar, and 2 ts of toasted sesame oil to the small bowl. Mix by hand and transfer it to the big bowl.
- Squeeze a half package of tofu with a cotton cloth or paper towel and put it into a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt and 1 ts of toasted sesame oil. Mix it by hand and then put it next to chopped chives.
- In the big bowl, add 3 cloves of minced garlic and mix all ingredients by hand. This is your mandu filling.
Shape mandu
- Put some of the filling mixture into the center of a mandu skin.
- Use your fingertips to apply a little cold water to one edge of the skin. This will act as a sealant when you fold it over.
- Fold skin in half over filling and press edges together to make ripple shape.
Fry mandu
- Place some vegetable oil on heated pan and add the mandu you made.
- Lower the heat to low-medium and put the lid on the pan to cook.
- Turn over each mandu a few minutes later. Add 2-3 tbs of water and put the lid back on the pan. Cook a few minutes more over low heat.
- When the mandu is golden brown, transfer it to a plate.
- Serve hot with a dipping sauce made of equal parts vinegar and soy sauce.
Make mandu soup
- In a pot, place 6 cups of water, 8 dried anchovies, the leftover shiitake mushroom stems, and the leftover onion. Boil it over medium heat for 20-30 minutes. If too much water evaporates, add more.
- When the stock is done, remove the anchovies and onion.
- Add 1 ts of fish sauce, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and some of your mandu. Keep the lid on the pot. You can add some more salt if you want.
- When the mandu has cooked, it will float to the top.
- Add 1 beaten egg, 2 sliced green onions: Done!
- Serve hot with a bowl of kimchi, and ground pepper to taste.
These were fantastic! I made these with my half-Korean boyfriend tonight for date night and he said it was the best meal he’s ever ate! Thank you for such a great easy to follow recipe :)
IDEAS:
FLAVOR: ADD FLOUR. ADD 2 TABLESPOON OF FLOUR (ALL PURPOSE WHEAT FLOUR) FOR EVERY 1 LB OF MEAT. MUST INCREASE THE QUANTITY OF SALT AND SPICES.
CONVENIENCE: SSAM STYLE. COOK THE MANDU FILLING AND MANDU WRAPPERS SEPARATELY THEN EAT TOGETHER.
CONVENIENCE. KOREAN MEATLOAF, AND IT IS MICROWAVEABLE. MANDU FILLING AND BULGOGI MEATLOAF.
Maangchi, after freezing the mandu, how do you pan-fry it while ensuring that the pork is cooked through all the way? I keep seeing pink inside my mandu and I am unsure on how to properly pan-fry from frozen. Any advice would help!
When I boil it in soup, it comes out perfect.
I cook the frozen mandu on the pan with some vegetable oil until both sides turn a little brown and crunchy. Then I add a few spoons of water and turn down the heat to low, and cover and cook until the pork is fully cooked and the skins are crunchy.
Hi Maangchi, what soy sauce type and brand are you using for the dipping sauce?
Hi Maangchi, do I use the whole anchovy inside the tea strainer or do I need to remove the head and guts?
Always remove the head and guts! And you can put it in the tea strainer, or boil and take them out with chopsticks.
Thank you Maangchi! I made the dumplings with my daughters and they were delicious.
Maangchi thankyouu, these tasted so delicious – so much more flavourful than the frozen prepackaged dumplings!! I have to confess though, I had no tofu at home so I crumbled up some leftover cooked potato gems and one fish fillet which ended up working out fine. I used your mak-kimchi and the dumpling skin recipe too – everything from scratch, I’m very proud of all my hard work ;)
Again, thanks for all your lovely recipes Maangchi!!!
Hi, Maangchi, I just made the filling, but our dinner plans got moved back one day. Just curious… Do you still recommend freezing the mandu, or can I fill each mandu and keep them in the refrigerator for one day then cook them? I probably won’t have time to fill each ine tomorrow, but will they dry out in the refrigerator?
My cat, learning how to make Mandu.
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Made Mandu last week. Didn´t have Tofu available at my home town, so had to skip it. Also skipped pork. Buchu I had purchased at my last visit to Quito, at Seoul Market.
Decided to stir fry the filling (as I had seen in another Mandu recipe), to be able to preserve it longer. Also had to cope with square Mandu-pi, as no round one was available. Next time I´ll make my own.
Didn´t make the broth, but used the chicken broth I´d made for Dak-kalguksu instead. The result was super tasty. Also fried some Mandu: was so tasty that I didn´t even bother to make the dipping.
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BTW: I used egg white to stick the Mandu-Pi together, in stead of water: sticks much better. A trick I had learned from my chinese college friend Xiao Quing when making Spring Rolls.
Thanks for this recipe Maangchi-ssi! It’s super easy to follow, I am pretty proud of my mandu.
I steamed them and ate them with rice and kimchi.
can i use ground beef instead of pork?
Yes, you can use ground beef.
How many mandu does this recipe make?
I had to check this video to see how many I made! It makes between 50 and 60.