Like I mentioned in my previous post, the objective of making all that kimchi was so I could cook up dishes like this! Kimchi dumplings or mandu as it’s called in Korea. I don’t know if calling it mandu means it needs to have a specific shape like rounded tortellinis as is the norm shape for mandus. But I did a quick search on the net and don’t seem to have this rule. Anyways, I can’t find dumpling skins big enough to make that thick tortellini and I have no idea how to fold that shape either, I only do the way I know how from making gyozas. These dumplings can be cooked many ways, whether you want to steam them, pan fry them or cook them in soups and noodle dishes.
Kimchi just tastes good with anything, I kid you not. I have yet to find a dish made with kimchi and go ‘hmmm…ok, nope.’ Well, I suppose the obvious is that it will never make a great dessert but I’d like to see someone wacky enough to conjure up kimchi ice cream! 😛 Hey, we have garlic ice cream and sesame ice cream, maybe it’s not so bizarre to have this fermented vege converted into the icy cold concoction.
But I digress, dumplings are some of the easiest things you can make with kimchi, you can even opt to leave meat out of the filling altogether and go all kimchi. Of course that will take some tweaking to the recipe but I doubt it’s impossible to achieve.
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RECIPE FOR KIMCHI DUMPLINGS/ MANDU
Ingredients;
150 gms ground pork
Scallions, chopped
2 cloves, grated garlic
1 thumb size piece of ginger, grated
1/4 cup chopped kimchi
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin
A pinch of salt
White pepper
Dumpling skins
Sunflower oil
Water
Dipping sauce (optional);
Chopped garlic
Sliced ginger
Chilli sesame oil
Vinegar
Sesame seeds
Steps;
1. Mix all the ground pork with the rest of the ingredients except for the dumpling skins, sunflower oil and water.
2. Leave it to sit overnight or for 3 hours.
3. Take a teaspoonful of filling, place it in the centre of the dumpling skin. Wet the sides with water, fold it over in half sealing the mid-top. Make pleats on one side.
4. Repeat till you have your desired number of dumplings.
5. You can cook them several ways, steam, pan fry or in soups. I opt for pan fry.
6. Heat a frying pan with a little sunflower oil. Drop the dumplings bottom side down first. Sear the dumplings on all sides.
7. Pour a little water into the frying pan. Cover with a lid. Steam for 20 seconds (depending on the number or dumplings you have in one pan).
8. When the water is almost gone, give a dumplings a final ‘dry fry’ to make the skin crispy again.
9. Serve hot with a simple dipping sauce.
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I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea,
hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.
