Flat ManDu

Today, I will share a really simple dumpling recipe with you. This particular dumpling is called NapJak ManDu (납작만두) in Korean which means flat dumplings. It is a very popular street food in DaeGu, South Korea. As the name says, this dumpling is flat with a very small amount of filling inside compared to normal dumplings. Without any meat – just garlic chives and cellophane noodles – this dumpling itself can be a little boring. However, the special sauce is what makes this unique, and in some point, even better than normal dumplings. 🙂 I hope I made you excited to try my recipe. Hehe

Yield: 28 Pieces

Short Korean Lesson

• SeungJin (승진) = Promotion
• ToeJik (퇴직) = Retirement

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients:

• 28 Dumpling Wrappers
• 3 oz Cellophane Noodles
• ½ Cup Garlic Chives (1.5 oz)
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ⅛ tsp Black Pepper
• Some Cooking Oil

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Green Onion
• 1 Tbsp Water
• 1 tsp Red Hot Pepper
• ½ tsp Vinegar
• ¼ tsp Sugar

Directions

Unlike many other dumplings, this only needs these 2 ingredients for the filling.

To measure about 3 oz of the cellophane noodles, hold the noodles like this, and it should have about a 1½ inch diameter.

In boiling water, add the noodles and cook them for about 8 minutes on high.

Depending on the brand of your noodles, the cooking time could be slightly different.

Meanwhile, cut ½ cup of garlic chives (1.5 oz) into little chunks.

We also need to finely chop 2 Tbsp worth of green onion. Along with the green onion, we will use 1 tsp of hot pepper powder later.

For the dipping sauce, combine 1 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp of water, ½ tsp of vinegar, and ¼ tsp of sugar in a small bowl.

By now, the noodles will be done cooking. Rinse the cooked noodles in cold water so that the noodles will not be too hot to cut.

Cut the noodles into about ½ inch pieces.

Put the noodles and the garlic chives into a bowl. Then season them with ¼ tsp of salt and ⅛ tsp of black pepper.

Mix them all together. Soon you will be amazed how these simple ingredients can make super tasty dumplings.

I bought these dumpling wrappers from a Korean grocery store.

You can also try my homemade dumpling recipe.

Place a dumpling wrapper on a plate. Dip your finger in water to make it wet, and apply the water around the edge of the dumpling skin. The water will help make the dumpling wrapper stick together.

Take out ½ Tbsp of the dumpling mixture and put it on the center of the dumpling wrapper.

Fold the dumpling wrapper in half to make a half moon shape and seal it well. These are easier to form than regular dumplings because you do not have to make special patterns in these dumplings.

Use the same process for the rest and you will get about 28-30 dumplings.

Now, I will put half of the dumplings that I just made into boiling water.

Cook them for about 3 minutes on medium-high. I will flip the dumplings once or twice while they are cooking so that both sides cook evenly.

After 3 minutes, remove the cooked dumplings.

Put them on paper towels to remove the excess water.

Put 1-2 Tbsp of cooking oil into a heated nonstick pan and then put the boiled dumplings in the pan. Fry them for about 3-4 minutes on medium-low.

For these dumplings, you do not cook the dumplings until they are crispy. Rather, cook them just enough to get a little bit of crispness, but where they remain mainly soft.

While the dumplings are frying, you can boil the rest of the dumplings.

Put your fried dumplings on a pretty plate in the order you desire.

Then, drizzle some of the sauce over the dumplings. Since, the dipping sauce is not too salty, you can feel safe to add plenty of the sauce.

 

Finally, sprinkle some green onions and the hot pepper powder over the dumplings. These topping ingredients boost the flavor of the dumplings along with the savory dipping sauce.
I like the fact that I don’t have to steam these dumplings – that alone saves a lot of time. My vegetarian or vegan viewers will be happy to try these dumplings. Please try them someday. 🙂