Mandu

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These Korean dumplings from chef Beverly Kim contain beef, vegetables, sweet potato noodles, and a secret umami ingredient.

By
Beverly Kim
Beverly Kim

Beverly Kim is the James Beard award-winning chef and partner of Parachute and Anelya restaurants in Chicago, and a Top Chef contestant in 2011.

Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines
Published on April 26, 2024
Tested by
Liz Mervosh
Portrait of Elizabeth Mervosh
Tested by Liz Mervosh
Elizabeth Mervosh is a recipe tester and developer for Dotdash Meredith Food Studios in Birmingham, Alabama. She creates and fine-tunes recipes for brands including Southern Living, Real Simple, Food & Wine, People, and EatingWell.
Meet the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
Mandu
Photo:

Food & Wine / Photo by Stacy Allen / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Tucker Vines
Active Time:
1 hr 10 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 40 mins
Servings:
6
Yield:
36 dumplings

Many cultures across the world have their own versions of dumplings and in Korea, dumplings are called mandu. The fillings for mandu can vary but generally contain either beef or pork, vegetables, and dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles) along with soy sauce and sesame oil. Chef Beverly Kim’s version goes heavy on the vegetables, with lots of pleasing crunchy-tender textures from the greens, noodles, raw onion, and raw garlic, but there’s a secret umami-building ingredient, too — hard-boiled eggs. The filling is then lightly seasoned with soy, salt, mirin, and sesame oil to round out the flavor in these delightful dumplings. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the difference between dumplings and mandu?

    Mandu means dumpling in Korean; mandu (or mandoo) and dumplings are the same thing.

  • Are mandu made with pork or beef?

    Mandu can be made with pork or beef, or be made vegetarian. Just like any dumpling, the filling ingredients can be flexible depending on your tastes and preferences.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Keep some hot water near the stove when you are steaming your mandu in case you need to add some to your pot or wok in between batches of steamed dumplings. You will burn your steamer basket if you don’t have enough water.

You can also steam-fry the frozen dumplings rather than steam them in a bamboo steamer. Place frozen dumplings in a large nonstick skillet and add water to come halfway up the sides of the dumplings. Cover and steam until the dumplings are tender. Remove the lid and continue cooking until the water has evaporated and the dumplings are crisp on the bottom. 

Make ahead

To freeze mandu, place a baking sheet of folded mandu in the freezer, uncovered, until frozen, about one hour. Transfer the frozen mandu to a ziplock-freezer bag, and freeze for up to two months. Cook frozen mandu as directed in Step 5.

Ingredients

Dumplings

  • 1 ounce dried sweet potato noodles

  • 2 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled

  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

  • 2 cups shredded napa cabbage, plus whole cabbage leaves for lining steamer baskets

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

  • 1 1/2 cups packed fresh spinach

  • 8 ounces 80/20 ground beef

  • 1/3 cup peeled and finely chopped carrot

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 teaspoons mirin

  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

  • Cornstarch, for dusting

  • 1 (14-ounce) package (3 1/2-inch) round dumpling wrappers

  • 1 large egg white, beaten

Dipping Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons water

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon sliced fresh chives

  • Pinch of gochugaru (Korean chile powder)

Directions

  1. Prepare the Dumplings

    Place noodles in a 9- x 13-inch baking dish or baking pan, and add cold water to cover. Let stand until noodles are pliable, about 20 minutes. Drain well.

  2. While noodles soak, press hard-cooked eggs through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high. Add soaked noodles to boiling water, and cook, undisturbed, until noodles are bouncy-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles; rinse under cold water. Drain well, and let stand 10 minutes. Transfer noodles to a cutting board, and finely chop; add chopped noodles to bowl with eggs.

  3. Heat sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add shredded napa cabbage and garlic; cook, stirring often, until cabbage is slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Add spinach; cook, stirring constantly, until completely wilted, about 2 minutes. Spread spinach mixture over a small baking sheet lined with a double layer of paper towels. Let cool 15 minutes. Gently squeeze spinach mixture over sink to remove as much liquid as possible. Transfer spinach mixture to a cutting board, and finely chop. Add chopped spinach to bowl with eggs along with beef, carrot, onion, soy sauce, mirin, salt, and ginger. Stir until well combined.

  4. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and lightly sprinkle paper with cornstarch. Place 1 dumpling wrapper on a clean work surface, keeping remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel to prevent drying out. Lightly wet edges of wrapper (about 1/4 inch) with egg white. Spoon 1 tablespoon filling into center of wrapper, and spread slightly. Fold wrapper in half to form a semicircle; press to seal edges and enclose filling. Moisten top of 1 point with egg white. Bring both points of the semicircle together, overlapping slightly, to form a circle; pinch to secure. Place on prepared baking sheet, and cover loosely with a damp paper towel. Repeat process with remaining wrappers and filling.

  5. Prepare a wide pot or wok for a bamboo steamer, and add water to a depth of 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high, making sure water doesn't touch bottom of steamer. Line bottoms of 2 stackable bamboo steamer baskets with cabbage leaves. Arrange 10 Dumplings in a single layer in each steamer basket. Stack and cover steamer; place in prepared pot. Reduce heat to medium-high, and steam Dumplings until wrappers are glossy and slightly translucent, 10 to 12 minutes. Repeat steaming process with remaining Dumplings.

  6. While Dumplings steam, prepare the Dipping Sauce

    Stir together soy sauce, water, vinegar, chives, and gochugaru in a small bowl. Serve Dumplings with Dipping Sauce.