This recipe for Korean Beef Mandu features tender, juicy ground beef seasoned in a sweet and savory bulgogi sauce with mung bean vermicelli noodles and vegetables, wrapped in silky dumpling dough.
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What is mandu?
Mandu refers to Korean dumplings, which typically consist of a meat, vegetable or tofu filling encased in a wheat flour wrapper.
Korean dumplings can be boiled, steamed, or pan-fried.
What is the difference between mandu and Chinese dumplings?
Chinese dumplings (jiao zi) are typically filled with pork, green onions, and wrapped in a round wheat wrapper, either folded or pleated.
Korean mandu also are filled with a meat mixture that can additionally include tofu, kimchi, and sweet potato noodles.
The traditional method of folding mandu involves an extra step to bring together the edges to seal, resulting in a more circular rounder shape.
However, you can also find mandu pleated similarly to Chinese dumplings.
Why you'll love this recipe
This recipe is inspired by Bibigo's Korean beef mandu (dumplings) that you can get from Costco.
The beef bulgogi mandu dumplings are:
Easy to make: mix the beef filling together, and then it's wrapping them up with the dumpling skins.
Tasty: with the sweet and salty flavors of Korean bulgogi beef, all wrapped up in a silky dumpling skin.
Freezer-friendly: you can make a large batch and store them in the freezer, and boil them up in minutes.
Ingredients you'll need
- lean ground beef: you can use regular ground beef as well
- carrot: shredded
- Napa cabbage: shredded
- coarse sea salt: for extracting excess moisture
- Korean beef bulgogi sauce: you can find it in Asian supermarkets or Korean grocery stores; already has soy sauce and sweetener added to it; traditionally made with soy sauce, garlic and sweetened with pureed Asian pear and onion
- mung bean vermicelli: soaked in warm water and drained; you can use Korean sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon) -- if using, make sure to soak in hot water for at least 1 hour, and then drain well
- garlic: minced
- green onion: chopped; or you can use leeks
- round dumpling wrappers: you can use store-bought or homemade wrappers; you'll need about 1 ½ pkgs, or 75 wrappers
You can find these ingredients at your Asian grocery stores or supermarkets.
How to make the dumplings
Make the filling:
Add the shredded cabbage and carrot to a colander.
Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the veggies and massage it in well. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Squeeze the excess water from the cabbage and carrot.
In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, add in the cabbage and carrot, beef, bulgogi sauce, vermicelli noodles, garlic and green onion.
Give it a mix for about 8-10 minutes, until the meat mixture is homogenous.
Assemble:
Take a dumpling wrapper and place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center.
Lightly dab the edges of the wrapper with water.
Fold the dumpling skin over, and pinch firmly to seal.
Place the completed dumpling onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Repeat with the remainder.
2 ways to pleat
Circular-style mandu: bring the two end tips together downward to touch, and press firmly to seal.
Pleated: starting from one end, pinch and seal in small increments.
4 ways to cook dumplings
Like Chinese pork dumplings, you can cook the beef mandu in various ways: pan-fried, boiled in broth or water, steamed, or deep-fried.
Pan-fried
Add the dumplings to a cold pan, leaving some space in between each dumpling.
Drizzle in a little water (to steam).
Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat.
Once the water has evaporated, remove the lid and use a spatula to remove the pan-fried dumplings.
Boil
Bring a pot of water up to a boil.
Add in the dumplings, stir gently and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the dumplings float.
Remove with a slotted spoon.
Steam
Add the dumplings to a steaming rack (allow space in between the dumplings so they don't stick).
Tip: lightly oil the steaming rack with sesame oil, use parchment paper with a few holes cut out, or a wet calico cloth on top of the steaming rack to prevent the dumplings from sticking.
Bring a pot of water up to a boil.
Carefully place the steaming rack over pot of boiling water and cover with a lid.
Steam dumplings for 6-8 minutes, until cooked through. Add a few extra minutes if cooking from frozen.
Deep-fried
For fried mandu, heat up a pot of high smoke-point vegetable oil to 400F.
Add in the dumplings and fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden and crispy brown.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
How to serve
Serve the Korean mandu dumplings with a soy, rice vinegar and sesame oil dipping sauce.
Pair with noodles such as hellamyeon, jjajangmyeon (Korean noodles in black bean sauce) for a more substantial meal.
Or serve with other side dishes like gimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls), Korean fried chicken, sotteok (skewered Korean rice cakes with sausages), or Korean-Style corn dogs.
How to store & reheat
Freeze:
You can freeze uncooked beef mandu in a single layer (without the dumplings touching each other, to prevent sticking) for about 1-2 hours.
Transfer the partially frozen dumplings into a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Fridge:
Store cooked dumplings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat:
To reheat cooked dumplings, microwave for 1-2 minutes until warmed through, or heat using the original cooking method (boiling, pan-frying, steaming).
The exception is deep-fried dumplings -- reheat using the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350F, or until crisp and hot.
Variations
Try tofu and (drained) kimchi instead of beef for a vegetarian variation.
Or swap in ground pork for beef.
Expert tips
If you have extra dumpling wrappers, you can place them in the freezer (in an freezer-safe bag) and store for up to 3 months.
If you have additional meat filling, you can make them into small meatballs and pan-fry in a hot skillet, or boil in water.
When cooked through, the dumplings will float to the top, and their skin will turn slightly translucent.
Be sure to pinch and seal firmly so that the dumpling doesn't leak while cooking.
Other delicious recipes you may like
Be sure to check out these recipes:
Vegetable and Turkey Dumplings with Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce
Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below!
Korean Beef Mandu
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
- 3 leaves Napa cabbage shredded
- 1 carrot shredded
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 lb ground beef
- 75 ml Korean beef bulgogi sauce
- 1 pkg mung bean vermicelli noodles cut into smaller pieces, or sweet potato noodles - soaked and drained
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 stalks green onion chopped
- 1 ½ pkg dumpling wrappers appx 75 wrappers
Instructions
Prep the veggies:
- Add the shredded cabbage and carrot to a colander.
- Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the veggies and massage it in well. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Squeeze the excess water from the cabbage and carrot.
Make the filling:
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, add in the squeezed cabbage and carrot, beef, bulgogi sauce, vermicelli noodles, garlic and green onion.
- Give it a mix for about 8-10 minutes, until the meat mixture is homogenous.
Assemble:
- Take a dumpling wrapper and place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center.
- Lightly dab the edges of the wrapper with water.
- Fold the dumpling skin over, and pinch firmly to seal.
- Place the completed dumpling onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat with the remainder.
2 ways to pleat:
- Circular-style mandu: bring the two end tips together downward to touch, and press firmly to seal.
- Pleated: starting from one end, pinch and seal in small increments.
Cook the mandu:
Pan-fried:
- Add the dumplings to a cold pan, leaving some space in between each dumpling.
- Drizzle in a little water (to steam).
- Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat.
- Once the water has evaporated (about 5-7 minutes) remove the lid and use a spatula to remove the pan-fried dumplings.
Boil:
- Bring a pot of water up to a boil.
- Add in the dumplings, stir gently and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the dumplings float.
- Remove with a slotted spoon.
Steam:
- Add the dumplings to a steaming rack (allow space in between the dumplings so they don't stick).
- Tip: lightly oil the steaming rack with sesame oil, use parchment paper with a few holes cut out, or a wet calico cloth on top of the steaming rack to prevent the dumplings from sticking.
- Bring a pot of water up to a boil.
- Carefully place the steaming rack over pot of boiling water and cover with a lid.
- Steam dumplings for 6-8 minutes, until cooked through. Add a few extra minutes if cooking from frozen.
Deep-fried:
- Heat up a pot of high smoke-point vegetable oil to 400°F/204°C.
- Add in the dumplings and fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden and crispy brown.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
Ben | Havocinthekitchen
Isn't amazing that so many unique variations of dumplings exist in different parts of the world, right?! These look so beautiful and inviting and I bet so delicious, too!
Michelle
Yes, there are so many delicious variations of dumplings! Thanks Ben 🙂
Dawn
I've never heard of mandu before, but I would certainly love to try this recipe! Looks flavour packed, Michelle! So cool that there are different cooking options, too!
Michelle
Thanks Dawn, you'll have to try it out -- they're similar to Chinese dumplings, only packed with sweet and savory juicy beef filling! The dumpling shapes are so much fun to play around with too.
Raymund | angsarap.net
Your recipe for Korean Beef Mandu sounds absolutely delicious and sounds like its packed with flavor, can't wait to give this recipe a try