Folding mandu instantly puts me into a therapeutic trance. Each fold and crimp keeps me in the immediate presence of completing a task that I know ends with a payoff. My stress is muted. Worries have no room in my mind. There’s a reason my freezer is always filled with dumplings.

For the filling, I wanted to show you a combination that’s full of flavor with fewer ingredients than I normally put in mandu. Simplicity is key to get you started in mass mandu production.

Even though chili oil isn’t Korean, that shouldn’t stop you from drizzling it all over these golden bundles. You might want to go a more traditional route and make a dipping sauce with equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar. You may even find that you can’t wait to acquire a flavoring accompaniment and quickly shove multiple mandu into your mouth. No need to worry. This is completely normal.

Pork and Kimchi Mandu 만두

Ingredients
About 40 dumplings

1 Mandu wrapper package
1 lb ground pork
1 cup kimchi
2 green onions
1 egg
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
2 TBSP of vegetable oil for cooking

Steps
1. Cut off the root of the green onions and dice into small pieces. Drain most of the kimchi juice and dice the kimchi into small pieces. Combine all of the mandu filling together in a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. 

2. Put water in a small bowl to help the mandu seal with your fingers. Add 1 tsp of filling into a wrapper. Using your fingers, wet half of the dumpling wrapper edge with water. Seal to make a half-moon, pushing excess air out, then quickly bring the two points together and press firmly to seal. Gently flatten the bottoms for the mandu sits up straight. 

3. To cook, heat vegetable oil in a medium-heat pan. Fry for about 2 minutes until you have the desired color. Carefully add about 2 tablespoons of water and immediately turn the heat to low and cover for 5-8 minutes with a lid. You will hear a loud hiss. The water should be evaporated and dumplings shiny when ready.

Notes
- You can test your filling by frying a little in a pan before putting it into a wrapper. 
- If your mixture is too wet, you can add a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs to help with the texture.
- Make an equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar dipping sauce or chili crisp oil.
- Use within 24 hours covered in the fridge, or freeze on a baking sheet then store in a freezer container. Use frozen dumplings within 3 months.