Kimchi Mandu (김치만두)

My mom's kimchi mandu made with ground beef instead of pork, packed with finely chopped kimchi, tofu, bean sprouts, Korean chives, and green onion, seasoned with sesame oil, oyster sauce, and garlic. Steam the whole batch and freeze fully cooked so you always have homemade dumplings ready to go.

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Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: Korean

Keyword: ground beef mandu, homemade mandu, how to make mandu, kimchi dumplings, kimchi filling dumplings, kimchi mandu, Korean dumpling recipe, Korean dumplings, Korean mandu recipe, mandu from scratch, steamed mandu, 김치만두

Servings: mandu depending on size of wrapper

Ingredients

Filling

500 g ground beef 85/15 or 90/10
600 g kimchi liquid squeezed out and finely chopped
1 block firm tofu pressed and crumbled
400 g bean sprouts blanched squeezed dry and roughly chopped
200 g Korean chives finely chopped
100-200 g green onion finely chopped
2 eggs

Seasoning

3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp garlic minced
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp mirin
Salt and black pepper to taste

For Wrapping

3-4 packs mandu wrappers

Instructions

PREPARE THE FILLING

Prep the kimchi: Squeeze all the liquid out of the kimchi as thoroughly as possible. Chop finely and set aside.
Prep the bean sprouts: Blanch in salted boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Drain and rinse immediately under cold water. Squeeze dry and chop roughly.
Prep the tofu: Press the tofu firmly to remove water then crumble or mash into small pieces.
Chop aromatics: Finely chop the Korean chives and green onion.
Combine the filling: In a large bowl combine ground beef, kimchi, bean sprouts, crumbled tofu, chives, and green onion. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, mirin, salt, and black pepper. Add the eggs. Mix everything together thoroughly until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning — the filling should taste well seasoned and bold.

WRAP

Set up your station: Have your bowl of filling, mandu wrappers kept covered with a damp cloth, and a small bowl of water ready.
Wrap: Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each wrapper. Wet the edges with water. Fold in half and press firmly to seal. Pleat and pinch along the sealed edge to close completely. Make sure no air is trapped inside and all seams are completely sealed.

STEAM

Steam: Line a steamer basket with parchment paper or cabbage leaves to prevent sticking. Arrange mandu in a single layer without touching. Steam over boiling water for 15 minutes until cooked through.