What I had for lunch today:
Store-bought mak-kimchi (north); home-made oi-kimchi (west); more or less proper homemade ddeok-manduguk, i.e., rice cake and dumpling soup (east); and homemade ddeokbokgi (sliced rice cake and sliced fish cake in spicy red pepper sauce; south).
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I prefer round mandu (that is, ends wrapped around tortellini-style) in my ddeok-manduguk, but it's taste that counts, of course. And that looks tasty. No dalgyaljidan, though?
ReplyDeleteYeah, guilty as charged. And no julienned strips of beef, either. I had just run out of eggs the day before.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I like round mandu better, too, but the day I went to the Korean store, the freezers didn't have round mandu with meat in them. The available roundies had fillings like kimchi, veggies, and/or clear vermicelli. Boring.
ReplyDeleteOne distinct advantage of round mandu is that, because each dumpling is curled in on itself, it doesn't freeze against its companions and become inseparable. Uncurled mandu have a tendency to freeze like that, which means they rip apart more easily when you try to separate them either by hand or via boiling broth.
I'd eat the hell out of that lunch.
ReplyDeleteElisson,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome over to Appalachia any ol' time.
Have you ever made mandu yourself? I know that here they sell the mandu "skins" separately, which is most of the hassle. You can make a whole bunch in advance and then freeze them for when you need them. Because, let's face it: most store-bought frozen mandu are kind of crappy compared to the homemade variety.
ReplyDeleteCharles,
ReplyDeleteI have indeed made mandu myself, but I'm not nearly as good as Mom used to be.
"...but I'm not nearly as good as Mom used to be."
ReplyDeleteNone of us ever are.