Korean Dumplings by Chul Hwang from Sosta!
Each family has its own Holiday tradition. For Chul Hwang, chef at the Sosta! restaurant located in the Alt Hotel Toronto Pearson, it is the making of "mandu", traditional Korean dumplings.
"This is the only food my family make together on Holidays, mostly for New Year. We sit down together in a living room and make hundreds of it. We store them in the freezer for the whole winter", explains Chul.
How do you eat these famous little Korean creations? In all kinds of ways! "You can deep fry them, pan fry or throw them into a soup", adds the chef, who likes to steam them.
What he loves most about this recipe is how much his personality and that of his family members shine through in the making of the dumplings. “I can see the consistency from my mom’s while I make random shapes of every single piece. My brother doesn’t even make as many as the rest of us do. My sister makes very plain shapes just focusing on how fast she can finish and when to start eating them.”
Here is the famous Korean dumplings recipe from Chul Hwang.
Korean Dumplings recipe
Preparation time : 35 minutes
Waiting time : 1h
Baking time : 10min
Number of guests : 4
Difficulty level : average
Mandu Dough :
Ingredients :
350g all purpose flour (approx. 3 cups)
100g cold water (approx. ½ cup)
5g of salt (a pinch)
Preparation :
- Place all ingredient in a plastic bag and knead gently. Let it sit in a refrigerator for an hour.
Mandu filling :
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl :
300g pork ground lean (approx. 0.6 pounds)
5g minced ginger (a tablespoon)
20g minced garlic (approx. 2 tbsp)
50g onion chopped fine (approx. 5 tbsp)
50g glass noodle cooked and chopped (approx. ½ cup)
50g tofu firm mashed and pat dried (approx. ½ cup)
20g chive chopped (approx. 2 tbsp)
2tbsp salt
3tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp sesame oil
Dipping Sauce :
Combine all the ingredients :
200ml soy sauce (4/5 cups)
50ml mirin (1/4 cup)
50ml vinegar (1/4 cup)
1tbsp green onion chopped
1tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
How to make dumplings :
- Take a small amount of dough (about half your thumb) and flatten it onto a lightly floured surface.
- When the dough is finely flattened, place about 2 tablespoons of filling in its center and close it into the shape you want. A little water is needed to seal the dumpling properly so it doesn’t open during cooking.
- Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes in a steamer.
