Crispy Pan-Fried Mandu (Korean Dumplings) filled with Kimchi, Mushrooms, and rice noodles! This combination has quickly become one of my favorites. And of course, they are equally delicious steamed and boiled as well.
Who doesn’t love some good dumplings? You might be familiar with the Chinese Jiaozi or Japanese Gyoza, but Koreans have an equally delicious treat called Mandu. As with everything, these Korean dumplings are better homemade. They are easy, delicious, and super customizable — feel free to change up the filling as you like!
For this recipe, I used the “Pinch-Braid” Fold. My #1 tip for getting the perfect Pinch-Braid Fold is to make sure that the tip of each fold goes below the next fold! Do exactly that and all your folds will align perfectly like a braid.
Homemade Vegan Kimchi:
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Kimchi Mushroom Mandu (Vegan)
Course: LunchCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Medium2
servings30
minutes15
minutesCrispy Pan-Fried Mandu, or Korean dumplings, filled with kimchi, shiitake mushrooms, and rice noodles.
Ingredients
12 mandu dumpling wrappers (thicker than regular wrappers)
- Filling
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup yellow onions, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, finely minced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, minced
3/4 cup kimchi, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 pinch gochugaru, red chili pepper flakes
40 grams long rice noodles or vermicelli, I used a Taiwanese brand
- Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon gochujang
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 pinch white sesame seeds
1 pinch gochugaru, red chili pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Directions
- Prepare the rice noodles. Do as the package instructions — usually this involves soaking in room temperature water (around 10 minutes) and boiling in water (around 3-5 minutes). Roughly chop the noodles into 0.3 – 0.5 cm long strands. Set aside and prepare the rest of the filling.
- Prepare the filling. Once you’ve chopped all the vegetables as instructed, start by heating up the sesame oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, yellow onions, and fry until aromatic and lightly caramelized, around 3-4 minutes. Then, add the shiitake mushrooms and cook until its moisture is all released. Follow this with the chopped kimchi, soy sauce, scallions, gochugaru, and cook again until most of the moisture evaporates. Finish the filling by stirring in the rice noodles. Adjust seasoning with soy sauce as needed.
- Prepare the Dipping Sauce. Simply mix all the listed ingredients in a small dish. I like to do this ahead of time to let all the flavors infuse.
- Make the dumplings. Remember to flour your hands as well as the work surface to prevent sticking. Fold the dumplings as you would like — for mandu wrappers that are palm-sized, I usually go for around 2 tablespoons filling per dumpling. I love this tutorial by Elaine Luo for a variety of dumpling folds. I did her pinch-braid fold.
- To Pan-Fry the Dumplings. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan on medium heat and place the dumplings in — be sure not to overcrowd the pan!! For this recipe, I fried the dumplings in two batches. Fry the dumplings flat-side down for 4 minutes first, then pour a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 3 tablespoons of water) over the dumplings. Remember to save half of the cornstarch slurry if you’re frying the dumplings in two batches. Quickly cover the pan with a lid (but leave a small hole if the lid doesn’t already have one) and cook for 8-9 minutes. Near the end of the cooking, you can remove the lid and turn up the heat to achieve extra browning.
- To Steam the Dumplings. Steam the dumplings for around 11-12 minutes in a steamer. Make sure you line the bottom of the steamer with a thin cloth or steaming paper.
- To Boil the Dumplings. Boil the dumplings in a pot of boiling water. Be sure not to overcrowd the pot as the dumplings might stick together. Boil until all the pieces are floating.
Notes
- These proportions are made as a lunch for two — feel free to double or quadruple the recipe and freeze the dumplings for later!
- Frozen dumplings do not have to be thawed before pan-frying, steaming, or boiling. Just add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.