A Review on Korean Dumplings

M.Janakavi, Chennai , Tamilnadu

Korean Dumplings are a refreshing and relaxing light dish and the perfect appetizer. In Korea, Dumplings are called “Mandu”. Mostly Korean Mandu is made at home during lunar new year’s day to celebrate the event. Home-made Mandu are fresh, delicious and versatile and there is a lot of effort to put but the result is worth the effort. Nowadays Koreans prefer grocery store dumplings as they are easy to cook, savoury in taste, time-saving and freeze the dumplings for later use. These Korean Mandu are a favourite lunch snack for children, so kids like them so much and never get bored of them. One unique thing about the dumplings is that the recipe has many variations so the dumplings recipe always changes.

Types of Korean Mandu

In Korea, there are many types of Mandu because the recipe has changed over the years but the most commonly prepared Dumplings are:

Gogi Mandu means Meat dumpling.

 Yachae Mandu comes with lots of veggies in the fillings.

 Kimchi Mandu is simply dumplings with kimchi as the filling.

Another type is Saewu Mandu which has shrimp and other seafood food like scallops, Prawns, and squid in the fillings.

 This is a very classical type of Mandu it comes from parts of China. Koreans love the soup inside the dumplings which are called Dim Sum also known as soupy dumplings. It looks so fluffy and soft because of the soup inside the Mandu.

The cooking style of Dumplings

People prefer different styles of cooking their favourite dumplings. Just like Indians have their variations of Momos!

Jjin Mandu means steamed style.

Tuigin Mandu refers to deep fried Mandu

Gun Mandu means pan stir fried Mandu

Mul Mandu means boiled in water Mandu.

Most children love the Tuigin and Gun dumplings because of their crispy texture and fried taste.

The seasoning of the filling

There are so many veggies and meat used in fillings but the main ingredients for the dumplings are Chinese cabbage, green cabbage, kimchi, bean sprout, mushroom, zucchini, garlic, scallion and in addition tofu, sweet potatoes starch noodles are also used sometimes.

To season the fillings add soy sauce dumplings don’t usually need salt as dumplings are mostly eaten with dipping sauces.

Dumplings wrappers

Most people buy dumplings wrappers from groceries because it’s easy to cook and convenient to use. People always prefer half-moon-shaped dumplings. Before folding the dumpling one teaspoonful of fillings is added to the wrappers and sealed by pinching the edges together. Sealing dumplings is a kind of art that is not mastered by many. Also, people wet the edges of the wrappers so there can easily stick together by pinching.

Famous Restaurant for Korean dumplings in Korea

Yeon – Gyo , located in Mapo Gu Yeonnam Dong

Bruce Lee – Gangnam -Gu , Yangjae Dong

Jooo’s Dim Sum – Gangnam Gu , Garosugil

Cheung Kee Myun Ga- Gangnam Gu ,Cheongdam

Song What shanxi Noodle-Gwangjin -Gu , Konkuk university station

Goldfish Dim Sum-Gangnam Gu Apgujung Dong

Dim Sum- Songpa -Gu , Banging Dong

Mr. Seo Wang Mandu – Malo Gu , Ewha women’s University Station

Famous Restaurant for Korean Dumplings in India

Haengbok Restaurant -Mumbai

Hae  Kum Gang – Bengaluru

Kim Mohan’s Restaurant and café – Rajasthan

Arirang Korean Restaurant – Bengaluru

Haiku, The Asian Kitchen – Hyderabad

Gung the palace – Haryana

Taiki  – Bengaluru

Seoul Restaurant – Delhi

Gangnam Korean Restaurant – Delhi

Kim shine foods – Gurgaon

Busan Restaurant – Delhi

Shizusan  Restaurant – Mumbai

Have you ever tried Korean dumplings? Did you like it? Tell us about your experience in the comments!