[Recipe] Homemade Dumplings: Mandu-Guk

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Mid-Autumn Festival is similar to Thanksgiving in Asia. We Koreans call this “Chuseok.” This is the second biggest holiday in Korea after New Year. During Chuseok, all family members gather to make a feast together. I used to make dumplings and traditional rice cakes (songpyeon) with my grandma during Chuseok. Today I’d like to share how to make homemade dumplings that my grandmother taught me years ago.

I shared how to fold this basic shape of dumplings on my personal instagram earlier.

I always like this hearty style of dumplings. Instead of just putting meats, you add all sorts of vegetables. This time I put the following for the filling;

Minced Beef 1 lbs (454g) + Minced Pork 1/2 lbs (227g) + Steamed shredded cabbages 10 oz (284g) or Beansprouts (300g) + Chives 100g + Tofu 1 pack + Shrimp Medium size 7~10 pieces (optional) + Asian Zucchini 50g + Minced Garlic (1T) +Salt (1/2t) + Black Pepper (1t) + Sesame Oil (1T)

Depending on your preference, you can change ingredients. If you prefer using different meats or vegetables, you are more than welcome to be creative! Just make sure you squeeze out excessive water of the steamed veggies or tofu before you mix everything together

There are many ways to eat these delicious homemade dumplings. One of my favorite ways to cook dumplings is make a big dumpling soup a.k.a. Mandu-Guk in Korean. Do you remember my Korean Rice Cake Soup (Dduk Guk) recipe? You can use the same method to make the broth. Boil dumplings for 8-10 minutes until they start to float on the surface and its skin gets clear

For more details on how to make toppings and broth, please check out my previous post Dduk Guk recipe http://www.madeinjoo.com/ddukguk/

[TEA PAIRING]

I paired my dumpling soup with this refreshing Genmaicha Matcha from Creative Coffee New York

Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea blended with toasted grains. It reminds me of Korean green tea blended with toasted brown rice, Hyeonmi Nokcha (현미녹차). This organic Genmaicha Matcha from Creative Coffee New York is a blend of Bancha green tea, toasted rice, and Matcha powder

You can drink it either hot or cold. It is very nutty and refreshing. Because this Genmaicha was blended with a little bit of matcha powder, the color of tea is a bit murky. I put 2t spoons and 500ml hot water (80C) and waited for 3 minutes. Once it is cooled down, I poured Genmaicha directly into a cup with ice cubes to make cold tea

Grilled swordfish, kimchi and other banchans (Korean small dishes)

There are many other ways to eat dumplings. Whenever I make dumplings, I make sure I make a lot. After I make my Mandu-Guk (dumpling soup), I usually pan fry dumplings. Then, I freeze the leftovers. With these frozen dumplings, you can quickly make a hearty dumpling soup in less than 5 minutes.

Hope you guys also enjoy Mid- Autumn Festival and don’t forget to make a wish with the full moon tonight!