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.
Buy this recipe's ingredients online
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Just one question don’t you have to steam the mando before you freeze for later use or you can just fry them just after you make them?
Freeze raw dumplings. You don’t have to steam them.
To make fried mandu, follow this direction.
# Place some vegetable oil on heated pan and add mandu.
# Lower the heat over low medium and cover the lid of the pan to cook.
# A few minutes later, open the lid and turn over each mandu. Place 2-3 tbs of water and cover the lid. Cook a few minutes more over low heat.
# When the mandu is golden brown, transfer it to a plate.
# Serve hot with dipping sauce (equal parts vinegar and soy sauce).
Why did you soak the Mushroom for 5 hours?
To make them softer.
She uses dried mushrooms. So she soaks them to plump them up and make them softer as she says :)
Just want to say i love your recipes. Can you do one for Ahndong Jjimdahk?
sure, jjimdak is one of upcoming recipes! thank you!
Hi Maangchi,
I have made Mandu twice, once for my family and once for my Koren daughter in law, my son and our grandchildren. It was a hit! I also made bibbimbap. Both were excellent.
Thanks and Best Wishes
Chales
Wisconsin USA
wow, you must be good at cooking! Thank you Charles!
hi maangchi….
i live here in the philippines and stumbled on your site a week ago.. the first recipe that i did was the egg rolls… my three siblings had it as a side dish to their packed lunches… and today, they begged me to have mandu as their viand for tomorrow in school…
you really make cooking easy and fun!
haha, you are now making Korean style lunch box for your siblings! gyeran mari (or gyeran malyee) is a very popular side dish for lunch box in Korea. Now your siblings use my recipe section as their menu. “hey, sister, I want you to make this this weekend!” Cute!
Maangchi *Ü*
My first visit to your blog…What a great video! Visited Korea twice when my husband was stationed over there and fell in love with the food. I’d sneak downtown and get steamed mandu, lots of kimchi (YUM) and those fantastic brown-sugary pancakes from the street vendors. I’ll have to check out the rest of your videos, Maangchi! Hope I find one for those pancakes, hint hint.. Thanks for all your hard work Ü
The food you mention must be “hoddeok” which is made with flour, water, yeast and brown sugar and nuts for filling. I will post the recipe someday, thank you!
Maangchi, I used to go to a Korean Restaurant in Virginia that served Mandu with a spicy dipping sauce. It was red and had lots of chili peppers & garlic in it. I just made your mandu & was wondering if you had a recipe for a dipping sauce similar to the one I described.
Thank you so much for setting up this Blog. I am a huge fan! I live up in Maine and there are no Korean restaurants (argh!!!). Your recipes have made it possible for me to get my fix of Korean food!
Thank you
hmm spicy dipping sauce. Was it sour and spicy? If so, you can make it easily. Mix 1 tbs hot pepper paste, 1 ts sugar (or honey), 1 ts minced garlic, 2 ts vinegar in a bowl. If it’s not that you are looking for, I don’t know.
I would like to visit Maine someday to eat fresh lobsters! : )
Maangchi,
I’m fan of korean cooking and absolutely adore your blog. I would like to ask if I want to make Kimichi Mandu how do I go about it. I notice there is Kimchi Mandu from a Korean Drama I currently watching but they did not specify in detail in making it. Could you provide me additional info based on the current mandu recipe you posted? Thanks.
Kimchi mandu! It’s a piece of cake! : ) To make it using this recipe, replace 2 cups of asian chives (buchu) with 2 cups of chopped kimchi.
I made mandu for my cousin’s birthday, and it turned out SOOO delicious!!!! i made both yakimandu and mandu-guk! I loved the yakimandu the most, but my mom LOOOVED mandu-guk (she kept commenting on how good it was while eating the soup haha). Thank you so much for posting the recipe for this Maangchi! Now I don’t have to buy the packaged mandu anymore! =)
of course homemade mandu is the best! Congratulation on your successful Korean cooking!
A friend of mine gave the website because I love the culture and i made this for my mom and family for Mother’s Day and they loved it. Thanks for the recipe ^_^
maangchi! is it possible to substitute the pork with just more beef? i want to make this for my boyfriend but he can’t eat pork! :( will it still taste as delicious?!
of course! I hope you bf loves your mandu!
Is it ok if I don’t add tofu to the dumplings?
Yes, I think it will still be delicious without tofu!
HEY MAANGCHI! just tried to make these, it was my first time attempting a koreon dish and it was a hit! thank you thank you thank you!
there so good!
xx
sammy :)
sammy,
big hit! oh ba~yee bee! cool! : ) Your big hit is my big hit!
Hi Maangchi! I’m excited to try out your mandoo recipe!! I’d like to give you a couple of suggestions that you might want to try with your recipe =): 1) For maximum water drainage of the tofu, microwave for about 5 minutes or until it’s cooked. Then squeeze out the water with a paper towel or cheesecloth. 2) add 2 whole eggs to the mandoo filling. This will help the filling hold when cooked. Thank you for inspiring me to cook!!
Thank you very much for good tips!
hehehe…these are some of my mandoo tips:
1. i also put 1 raw egg into the filling mixture
2. instead of using water to “glue” and seal the skin together, i use 1 egg white.
i love maangchi’s recipes!!
Hi Maangchi! Thanks for the recipe!! I tried to make one today and though I forgot to salt the meat =p it turns out great (yes just not salty enough =p). my husband was wondering about the skins that we bought, it seems that it was very thick and not crunchy enough. Is there any specific brand you suggest for the mandu skins? Thanks Maangchi! You are wonderful!!
I don’t have any particular brand name for mandu skin. Maybe put some oil more generously when you fry them? Leave your question here to discuss mandu skin if you want. You may get better answer from other readers. https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
James Kim,
I’m living in New York now.
Check this out,
https://www.maangchi.com/blog/planning-my-korean-cooking-class
Hello Maangchi-love your site-what city are you in. I was wondering if you give cooking classes-can you reply to my email? Thank you!
marla,
sorry about late reply. I am reading your comment just now. Anyway, did you add some vegetable oil in each ingredient? Check the step number 3 in my recipe. It won’t soggy if you follow the direction.
Julie W,
you are very welcome!
Hi Maangchi!
Thank you for this recipe! You make it look so easy!!!
First I am so excited to find you here. I love Korean Food but not good at making it. Your directions are great. Easy to follow and so far all the recipee I have tried has worked out.
But having problems with mandu. I tried to cook it but it was kind of soggy!!! What did I do wrong? Does it make a difference in what kind of a pan you use?
Thanks so much for doing this I really appreciate it and my children love the food.
xxMillieann85xx
yeah, you can keep mandu in the freezer for a long time. Whenever you feel like eating it, you can take it out from the freezer and cook it. that’s what I’m doing. Make lots and lots of mandu when you have free time and put them in the freezer!
hello~!
wats the point of leaving the mandus in the freezer??
is it dinner for the next day?? :P:P:P
Kim periwinkle018,
let me know how your mandu turns out.
thank you very much!
Hi! Thank you for your post of this recipe. I will try to do this mandu tomorrow and serve it to my bestfriends. By the way I’m teaching English to Koreans online and I kinda like your culture especially the food.. hehehe…
More power to you!
in my country it’s called MOMO but it is steamed cooked.. you can eat it like that or you can fry .. we also put some MOMO masala or MOMO seasoning to give it a strong taste.. then we eat it with chutney made from sesame seed, tomato and sometimes with different kind of chutneies.
Jeannie,
You made fantastic shape of mandu!
Yay! So delicious. My soup photo did not look as good as it tasted :(
But here is a photo of my mandu! :
http://flickr.com/photos/jc-dc/3276191954/in/photostream/
thank you :)
Maangchi!! I just made the soup and it was DELICIOUS. I will post some photos soon :)
Mhee,
You can keep it in the freezer for a few months.
Reinier
I’m glad to hear that your mandu turned out great!
samwei,
wow, your fried mandu looks very delicious!
Hello Maangchi
thanks agaiin for your recipe. I made it! the Mandu taste very yummy. my friend cannot resist these greatest dumplings at all. here is my blog link.
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/London-samwei/article?mid=8424
best wishes from London
Hi Maangchi,
Love the mandu, i made them with green spinach flavoured dumpling discs. This really tastes great!
Thanx from Rotterdam
I love dumplings, I used to wonder how they make it into that shape (the hat shape), thanks for sharing you’re knowledge, your dumplings really look appetizing. I see that you made a lot and store them in batches, how long can you keep them?
JHuang,
oh, after I rolled the filling balls in flour, I just put them in the boiling stock with normal looking mandu.
It’s very easy.
Rhyne and fouzia from france,
Thank you very much. Happy and successful 2009! : )
yummy… thanks a lot.. more power..
I just stumbled upon your podcast & this is the first episode I saw. I love to make dumplings & thought it was really cool how you used the leftover filling.
What did you do after you rolled the filling balls in flour? Did you fry it, boil it, bake it, etc? I don’t remember seeing that part on the video.
(please e-mail a response, thanks!)