Our first dumpling recipe ever (can you believe it?!) comes courtesy of the fantastic Claire-Marie Harris over at Kimchi Tacos blog, who in turned was schooled in the ways of mandu by her friend and yoga instructor, Dawn Kang. Now based in Dallas, TX, Claire lived in Korea for many years and even brought two adorable rescue pups back to the States–thus increasing our Peaceful Dumpling Korean population to an amazing NINE (me; Kate, Chris, and Wednesday Coffey, currently located in Dongducheon, Korea; Claire, hubby Mikey, and dogs Benjamin, Emma, and Ralf). I am plotting the day when we’ll finally meet each other and eat buckets of kimchi together (except the dogs, who will be eating Kate’s organic vegan puppy treats, natch). In the meantime, I’ll be making these dumplings to get in my Korean spirit. (This seriously authentic recipe first appeared on Kimchi Tacos).
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Vegan Mandu (Korean dumpling)
(makes 60)
This dish is way simpler to prepare than you might expect. Give it a go and feed your craving for those delicious pockets of yum.
Ingredients:
2 packages of mandu wraps (found in frozen mandu section)
filling:
1/2 medium white or red cabbage head
150g shiitake (pyogo) mushrooms
100g oyster mushrooms (Emart has 고기느타리버섯, or “meat” oyster mushrooms)
1 bulb garlic (or 6 cloves)
1 inch chunk ginger
4 strands of small green onions
1 small bundle of 당면 (glass noodles made of sweet potato starch)
marinade:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp sugar/honey
1 tbsp rice wine (mirin)
1. set the mandu wraps out to defrost and soak the glass noodles in a bowl of water for 10 minutes or until they lose their backbone
2. take cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and garlic and chop finely or toss in food processor
3. chop oyster mushrooms and green onions finely with a knife (food processor turns them into mush)
4. take glass noodles out of bowl, shake out water, and cut them into tiny pieces with a kitchen scissor right into your bowl of mandu filling
5. add the marinade and mix everything together. should be just wet enough to scoop up with a spoon and have the filling keep its shape
6. take a defrosted mandu wrap and spoon the filling into the middle. wet the edges with water and pinch shut. the fold and pinch technique works well here
7. steam, fry, or boil for ~5 minutes and serve with your favorite soy sauce dip
We dipped the mandu in some chile and onion infused soy sauce I had made a few weeks earlier. You can make this by slicing up 5 small, spicy chilies (I used gochu) and 3 green onions and allowing them to sit in about 2 cups of soy sauce for at least a week. You can leave the chilies and onions in the soy as long as you want and it will only get better with time! This is my vegan version of the delicious Thai chile sauce that usually contains fish sauce. Enjoy!!
More Asian recipes: Earth and Sea Buddha Bowl with Sweet Ginger Dressing
Pan Fried Tofu and Kimchi Sandwich with Avocado Aioli
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