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Home Dairy Free

Mandu with Kimchi (Korean Dumpling)

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Posted:1/30/201534 Comments
Recipe Print
Mandu 만두 - Korean Dumpling
Mandu 만두 – Korean Dumpling

Mandu 만두 shared here are Korean dumplings made with lots of kimchi in the filling.

These are also called by following names:

  • 김치만두 (kimchi mandu) – because it contains lots of kimchi
  • 평양만두 (pyeongyang mandu) – pyeongyang is the capital of North Korea and this mandu originally comes from the area
  • 왕만두 (wang mandu) – ‘wang’ means king in Korean and it basically means it’s a king-size mandu.

So this North Korean style Kimchi Mandu or also called 이북식 만두 (Yibukshik Mandu) are what I grew up eating and making at home. Sitting around our table in the kitchen, our family made mandu – probably as many as a hundred especially when it was near Korean New Year’s (설날 Seollal). Because my grandmother lived with us, we had lot of relatives visit our home for Seollal. And in those days, guests were ALWAYS fed Tteok mandu guk (떡만두국) no matter what time of day it was. 🙂

With the Korean New Year holiday (설날 Seollal) around the corner, I had a craving for these home made North Korean style kimchi mandu (dumplings). And I don’t mean just semi-home made dumplings that use ready made, store-bought mandu wrappers.. I wanted to eat the ones that were made with home made dough.  Once you have tasted these, you will want to have these again and again..I am kind of sad that these days, very few Koreans make mandu at home like our parents used to when I was little. So.. although my post will be long, I hope you will bear with me and also hope that some of you will even find time to make them at home while enjoying the slow process.

The recipe I introduce here uses a combination of pork and beef. You can adjust the amount of the meat (all beef, all pork, etc) and kimchi to your taste.

VEGAN KIMCHI DUMPLINGS

To make a vegan kimchi dumpling, omit meat and substitute with more tofu (4 oz additional) and add 4 oz chopped shitake mushrooms.

Mandu Recipe for Korean Kimchi Dumplings

Servings: 18×4 inch mandu   Prep Time: 2 hrs   Cooking Time: 15 min  Difficulty: Medium to High

Ingredients

  • 4 oz or 1 C ground beef
  • 4 oz or 1 C ground pork
    • seasoning for meat
    • 1 tsp dark soy sauce (진간장 jinkanjang)
    • 1 tsp chopped garlic
    • 1 tsp chopped ginger or ½ tsp ginger powder
    • 1/4 tsp sea salt
    • black pepper
  • 1/2 C to 1 cup chopped cabbage kimchi
  • 4 oz bean sprouts (roughly 1/2 package of 8 oz bags)
    • 1/2 tsp sesame oil + 1/8 tsp salt
  • 8 oz extra firm tofu (usually 1/2 Korean tofu package
    • 1/2 tsp sesame oil + 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 bunch Korean chives (부추 buchu) or green onions
  • Wrapper Dough (만두피 mandu pea)
    • 3 C all purpose flour (use bread flour for more chewy skin)
    • 1 T vegetable oil
    • ¾ C + 1~2 T water

MAKE THE DOUGH

  1. Make the dough by mixing 3 C flour, 2 tsp salt, 3/4 C water and 1 T vegetable oil. Add 1~ 2 T water depending on how your dough comes out. Knead for few minutes until the dough looks even throughout. It should not be so wet that it sticks to your hands but not so dry that you see dry spots in the dough. It should look something like this –
    Flour dough for Korean mandu
    Flour dough for Korean mandu

    Keep the dough covered with a wet towel and let it sit for 30 min to 1 hour.

Make stuffing

  1. Start boiling 4 C of water to cook sprouts in.
  2. Rinse bean sprouts and cook in boiling water. When water comes back to boil after adding the sprouts,  turn off heat. Drain and rinse sprouts in cold water to stop it from cooking further.
    Bean Sprouts (숙주 sukju) for Mandoo stuffing
    Fresh bean Sprouts (숙주 sukju) for Mandoo stuffing
  3. Take a handful of cooked sprouts and gently remove excess water by squeezing them into a ball. No need to squeeze too hard but just enough so that they look something like this.
    Squeeze excess water out from cooked sprouts
    Squeeze excess water out from cooked sprouts

    Rough chop cooked sprouts into 1/2 in long pieces.

  4. Season chopped sprouts with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1/8 tsp salt.
  5. Chop cabbage kimchi. If using a 포기김치 (pogi kimchi), remove extra seasoning (양념 yangnyeom) from the cabbage to make it less spicy and salty. You can even rinse the kimchi in water if you want a milder taste.
    chopped kimchi and bean sprouts for mandu stuffing
    chopped kimchi and bean sprouts for mandu stuffing
  6. Combine both ground meats and season altogether with 1 tsp each of soy sauce, chopped garlic, ginger. Add 1/4 tsp salt and few dashes of pepper. Mix well.
  7. For tofu, use a cheese cloth to squeeze excess water. This is BEFORE
    Tofu in cheese cloth
    Tofu in cheese cloth

    and AFTER

    Tofu pressed in cheese cloth
    Tofu pressed in cheese cloth
  8. Season tofu crumbles with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1/4 tsp salt.
  9. Chop a handful of Korean chives like so.
    Chopped Korea chives
    Chopped Korean chives – about 1/4 cup
  10. Mix meat, bean sprouts, kimchi, tofu and chives altogether.
    stuffing ingredients for Korean mandu
    stuffing ingredients for Korean mandu/dumpling

    Korean Kimchi Mandu/Dumpling stuffing mix
    Korean Kimchi Mandu/Dumpling stuffing – all mixed and ready

How to make Korean dumpling wrappers

  1. Divide and shape the dough into walnut size (1.5 inch) balls.
    Balls of dough for mandu wrapper
    Balls of dough for mandu wrapper
  2. Roll out each piece of dough to about 4 in rounds. I did not have a rolling pin so I used a glass bottle which is exactly what my mom used. And it worked just fine!
    rolling mandu dough
    rolling mandu dough
  3. Here’s a comparison picture of my home made mandu wrapper on the left and a store bought one on the right.
    dumpling wrapper ( home made vs store bought)
    dumpling wrapper ( home made vs store bought)

    Can’t you just taste the difference from looking at it? I think I can!! Haha

  4. Now, we are finally ready to put it altogther!!! Take the wrapper and put it on your palm. And then take about 2 heaping spoonfuls of the stuffing and put it at the center of the wrapper. The amount of stuffing should feel like it’s too much for the wrapper.
    how much stuffing to put in your home style Korean mandu
    how much stuffing to put in your home style Korean mandu
  5. Start sealing the dumpling by pinching the center edges. Since you are making with fresh dough, there’s no need to use water or egg whites to help the edges seal.
    how to seal Korean mandu dumpling
    how to seal Korean mandu dumpling
  6. Seal off the rest by pinching remaining sides.
    how to seal Korean mandu dumpling edges
    how to seal Korean mandu dumpling edges
  7. Here is how it looks when dumpling is all closed up!
    finished mandu/dumpling
    finished mandu/dumpling
  8. Sprinkle flour on a tray and lay them on it, without touching each other.
    Home made Kimchi Mandu
    Home made Kimchi Mandu
  9. Time to COOK!!! You can either cook it in boiling water for 10-15 min until it floats to the top or steam it in a steamer for 10-15 min or add it to a beef broth for manduguk. Personally, I think boiled dumplings maintain the chewiness of the wrapper skin the best without the edges drying out, which can happen with steaming sometimes.
    Mandu-Korean Kimchi Dumpling
    Mandu-Korean Kimchi Dumpling
  10. BTW, if you are wondering how I added the pleated designs into the mandu – here’s how. Just fold the edge once like so and repeat every couple centimeters or 1/2 inch or so.
    putting pleats into mandu edges
    putting pleats into mandu edges

    ** Updated some salt amounts on 12/30/2020

    Here’s a new Youtube Video showing how you can make Kimchi Mandu at home!

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    Print
    4.93 from 13 votes
    Mandu-Korean Kimchi Dumpling

    Mandu - Korean Dumplings

    This North Korean style Kimchi Mandu or also called 이북식 만두 (Yibukshik Mandu) are what I grew up eating and making at home. Filled with kimchi, pork, beef, tofu and bean sprouts - it's a delicious treat for special holidays for Koreans.
    Prep: 2 hours
    Cook: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
    serves: 18 dumplings

    Ingredients

    • 4 oz ground beef
    • 4 oz ground pork

    seasoning for meat

    • 1 tsp dark soy sauce (진간장 jinkanjang)
    • 1 tsp chopped garlic
    • 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
    • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's)
    • black pepper

    Stuffing Ingredients

    • 1/2 C chopped cabbage kimchi add more if you love kimchi, up to double amount
    • 4 oz bean sprouts 4 oz = roughly 1/2 package
    • 1/2 tsp sesame oil (for seasoning bean sprouts)
    • 1/8 tsp salt (for seasoning bean sprouts)
    • 8 oz extra firm tofu 8 oz = 1/2 Korean tofu pack
    • 1/2 tsp sesame oil (for seasoning tofu)
    • 1/4 tsp salt (for seasoning tofu)
    • 1 bunch Korean chives (부추 buchu or green onions)

    Wrapper Dough (만두피 mandu pea)

    • 3 C all purpose flour (use bread flour for more chewy skin)
    • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
    • ¾ C water (plus 1 to 2 Tbsp water as needed)
    • 2 tsp fine sea salt
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    Make Dumpling Wrapper Dough OR use store-bought

    • Make dough by mixing 3 C flour, 2 tsp salt, 3/4 C water and 1 T vegetable oil. Add 1~ 2 T water depending on how your dough comes out. Knead for few minutes until the dough looks even throughout. It should not be so wet that it sticks to your hands but not so dry that you see dry spots in the dough. Keep dough covered with a wet towel and let it sit for 30 min to 1 hour.
      Flour dough for Korean mandu

    Make Stuffing

    • Start boiling 4 C of water to cook sprouts in (for 4 oz)
    • Rinse bean sprouts and cook in boiling water. When water comes back to boil after adding the sprouts, turn off heat. Drain and rinse sprouts in cold water to stop it from cooking further.
      Bean Sprouts (숙주 sukju) for Mandoo stuffing
    • Take a handful of cooked sprouts and gently remove excess water by squeezing them into a ball.
      Squeeze excess water out from cooked sprouts
    • Rough chop cooked sprouts into 1/2 in long pieces.
    • Season chopped sprouts with sesame oil and salt.
    • Chop cabbage kimchi.
      chopped kimchi and bean sprouts for mandu stuffing
    • Season ground pork and beef altogether with soy sauce, chopped garlic, ginger. Add salt and few dashes of pepper. Mix well.
    • For tofu, use a cheese cloth to squeeze excess water.
      Tofu in cheese cloth
    • This is how tofu looks after it's squeezed - broken into crumbles.
      Tofu pressed in cheese cloth
    • Season tofu crumbles with sesame oil and salt.
    •  Chop a handful of Korean chives.
      Chopped Korea chives
    • Mix meat, bean sprouts, kimchi, tofu and chives altogether. Set aside to use as stuffing.
      stuffing ingredients for Korean mandu
    • Fully mixed stuffing ->
      Korean Kimchi Mandu/Dumpling stuffing mix

    How to make Korean dumpling wrappers

    • Divide and shape dough into walnut size (1.5 inch) balls.
      Balls of dough for mandu wrapper
    • Roll out each piece of dough to about 4 in rounds. I did not have a rolling pin so I used a glass bottle which is exactly what my mom used. And it worked just fine!
      rolling mandu dough

    Stuff Dumpling

    • Now, we are finally ready to put it altogther!!! Take the wrapper and put it on your palm. And then take a spoonful of stuffing and put it at the center of the wrapper. The amount of stuffing should feel like it's too much for the wrapper.
      how much stuffing to put in your home style Korean mandu
    • Start sealing the dumpling by pinching the center edges. Since you are making with fresh dough, there's no need to use water or egg whites to help the edges seal.
      how to seal Korean mandu dumpling
    • Seal off the rest by pinching remaining sides.
      how to seal Korean mandu dumpling edges
    • Here's how it looks after it's done
      finished mandu/dumpling
    • Sprinkle flour on a tray and lay them out without letting them touch each other.
      Home made Kimchi Mandu
    • Time to COOK!!! You can either cook it in boiling water for 10-15 min until it floats to the top or steam it in a steamer for 10-15 min or add it to a beef broth for manduguk.

    Tips & Notes:

    • You can freeze uncooked dumplings for later. Trick is to first freeze briefly uncovered on a tray (see pic in step 8) until they feel hard on the outside. Once the outside is frozen hard, you can then put them altogether in a freezer bag and freeze for later use.

    Nutrition Information:

    Calories: 126kcal (6%)| Carbohydrates: 16g (5%)| Protein: 5g (10%)| Fat: 4g (6%)| Saturated Fat: 1g (6%)| Cholesterol: 9mg (3%)| Sodium: 91mg (4%)| Potassium: 86mg (2%)| Vitamin C: 0.9mg (1%)| Calcium: 10mg (1%)| Iron: 1.4mg (8%)
    Author: JinJoo Lee
    Course:Appetizer, Soup
    Cuisine:Korean
    Keyword:home made dumpling wrap, Kimchi, north korean style, steamed
    KoreanCategory:Mandu (만두)
    Did You Make This?I love seeing what you’ve made! Tag me on Instagram at @Kimchimari or #kimchimari and don’t forget to leave a comment & rating below!

    Tips for Storage

Leftover uncooked dumplings can be frozen for later use. In order to avoid the dumplings from sticking to each other, you need to first freeze briefly uncovered on a tray (see pic in step 8) until they feel hard on the outside. Once the outside is frozen hard, you can then put them altogether in a freezer bag and freeze for later use.

Finally, some restaurant recommendations which serve this kind of Korean dumpling in Seoul –  Pildong Myeonok (필동면옥) in Pildong and Jinnampo Myeonok (진남포면옥) in 약수동 are my favorites. These restaurants have been around for generations, started by owners who are originally from North Korea, much like my parents.

Tips for making life easier

You don’t have to make the dough, the stuffing and mandu all in one day. You can make the stuffing and/or the dough ahead and keep in the fridge up to 1 day so you can break up the project over 2 days.

– Thank you to my sis #2 for letting me use her kitchen and dishes for this post !!

How to Make Korean Kimchi Dumplings (mandu)

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34 Comments
  1. Gwendolyn Meyer says

    Posted on 14 January 2023 at 7:04 pm

    have u made this gluten free & if u did what kind of gluten free flour did u use?

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 14 January 2023 at 8:47 pm

      Sorry, I haven’t made a gluten free wrapper but I assume you can try a cup for cup kind of gluten free flour for it. Good luck!

      Reply
  2. Michelle Ng says

    Posted on 1 January 2023 at 7:10 pm

    Happy New Year. I would like to ask if it’s ok to omit the tofu and bean spouts. Any replacement I can use?

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 2 January 2023 at 8:40 pm

      Hi Michelle, I’m sorry if this comes to late.. but if you want to omit the tofu and bean sprouts, you can add some japchae noodles or more chopped cabbage (cooked and liquid squeezed out). Hopefully that helps. Happy New Year!

      Reply
      • Michelle Ng says

        Posted on 3 January 2023 at 12:14 am

        Thanks for your advise. I will give it a try.

  3. Kamalita says

    Posted on 21 February 2021 at 1:09 am

    Is it possible to substitute vegan/vegetarian options for the meat filling? I was wondering if I could use tofu instead.

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 21 February 2021 at 9:13 pm

      Yes, you could just try tofu and maybe add some glass noodles then. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. ELIZABETH CHUN says

    Posted on 30 December 2020 at 2:45 pm

    Can you use frozen chives? Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 30 December 2020 at 8:09 pm

      Yes, frozen chives should work. Enjoy!

      Reply
    • Maria Maier says

      Posted on 4 February 2021 at 3:07 am

      These sound great. What dipping sauce would you suggest?

      Reply
      • JinJoo says

        Posted on 4 February 2021 at 9:59 am

        Because this is already quite well seasoned, you don’t need a dipping sauce but if you wanted one, I would suggest a simple Cho Ganjang – soy sauce and vinegar. you can find recipe here – https://kimchimari.com/korean-sauce-3-recipes-dipping/ thank you!

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Nutritional Facts in my recipe cards are provided PER SERVING and it’s an estimate and may not be accurate. Due to different brands of ingredients having different nutritional values, the values I provide here may be different from your preparation.

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