Mandu - Korean Dumplings
One of my favorite Korean foods is the Korean Dumplings, Mandu. Traditionally, it is eaten during major holidays in Korea. These days, however, you will find them all year around in the frozen section of Asian grocery stores, some Korean restaurants and make them at home.
I have fond memories of making Mandu since I was six or seven years old! Of course, at that age, you can only do so much… All the women in my family and relatives will gather around my Grandma in the kitchen and we each have a task to do to make this ordeal a success! While my Grandma will make the stuffing, which by the way, is the BEST, my Aunties will knead the dough, cut and roll them out in flat round skins. My job was to help roll them out with a rolling pin. We make quite the assembly line and when all said and done, we will drop them in a HUGE pot of boiling beef broth that was already prepared just for this occasion.
My Grandma and Aunties are all gone now, but I keep the tradition alive by making Mandu every New Year’s Day from scratch. Of course, I make them whenever we crave them as well as it is one of my FAVORITES!
How about you? What are some of your favorite foods and traditions?
