Korean Frozen Dumplings (Mandu)

One thing I don’t like about winter is its weather. It is just too cold, so I am not as motivated as other seasons to cook any meals. I just want to stay in my room and snuggle up. However, the fact that we have to eat to survive is what makes me still cook something. I have to admit that I am a lazy cook. 😀

So this is what we had for dinner last night. No rice! No Kimchi! Just some fried frozen mandu. (We had kind of a big lunch luckily, so we could cope with just some mandu for dinner.)

I bought these packs last week at Homeplus. It was really a good deal, because I got these two packs (total 2.4 kg) for 5,880 won (US $ 6.20). Great bargain, isn’t it? So I still have lots more leftover to go though. (I am planning to make some manduguk this weekend.)

I pan fried them, not deep frying. I think pan frying is a more common way to eat mandu instead of deep frying in Korea, and pan fried mandu is called “Gun-Mandu” (군만두) in Korean. To get the best result (crispy texture), defrost them completely before you cook them.

You can also steam them or cook them with a microwave.
If you steam them, you can get a result like this. (Eat them while it is still hot. When it gets cold, it is not very nice.)

Steamed mandu is “Jjin-Mandu” (찐만두) in Korean and I personally prefer pan fried mandu.

There are lots of kinds of mandu, such as Kimchi mandu (김치 만두), Meat mandu (고기 만두), Squid mandu (오징어 만두), Seafood mandu (해물 만두), even Pizza mandu (피자 만두). The mandu I bought was Japchae mandu (잡채 만두).

You can use some plain soy sauce as a dipping sauce or make some easy korean dumpling dipping sauce!