Mandu - Korean Dumplings

My first actual "cooking" post is here! I made mandu, 만두, or mandoo, which means dumplings in korean. They're like the Japanese Gyoza dumplings. The recipe is pretty lengthy but easy to make after the first try! I used Maangchi's recipe, who has inspired me to cook my way through korean food! Here's the link to her website for the recipe http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mandu .

There's so many different recipes out there for mandu, but I've only tried this one. I'd like to use ground chicken next time because sometimes the ground pork smell is a little too strong when I steam them. The best part about these is that you can make a whole bunch easily if you buy the mandu skins, because they can be stored in the freezer in a ziplock or container and just steamed/boiled/fried whenever!

I made the mandu shape which can be used in soups (the circle ones), and also the ones that you usually fry up (ones with the pleats going across).

Army of Mandu!! These are the ones for soup, but I usually just steam them all.

I dip them in a soy sauce/rice vinegar mixture and they're sooo delicious. If you've ever had the pre-made ones from the store or restaurant, well... there's no comparison. Once you make these, you'll never buy the store kind again!! :D

This is what the mandu look like after being steamed. I used rice powder mandu skins which taste delicious because it makes them a tad bit chewier rather than the plain flour noodle skin. You can see the asian chives in the mandu below... mmmm!