Mandut Guk

만둣국

(Dumpling Soup)

Since the introduction of mandu in Korea, it has been cooked in many ways. One of its popular variants is mandut guk or dumpling soup. It can be combined with rice cakes to form another soup known as tteok mandut guk, which is popularly served in New Year festivities.

MAIN INGREDIENTs

• 300 grams beef brisket
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 green onion leaves
• 2.5 liters water
• 1 egg
• 1 sheet laver
• dried red chili, a little slice
• 20 pieces dumplings

Mixed Seasonings Sauce

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 stalks small green onions
• 5 tablespoons anchovy sauce, as needed
• a little black pepper
• a little salt

HOW TO prepare

1. Soak brisket in cold water for about 1 hour to remove its blood.
2. In a pot, put beef, garlic, green onion leaves, and water and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour.
3. Remove the herbs from the pot.
4. Take the beef out of the broth and let it cool. Slice the beef thinly, opposite the meat grain and set aside the broth.
5. Pan-fry the egg white and yolk separately, then cut them into diamond shapes.
6. Cut small green onions into 2-inch long pieces.
7. Lightly bake laver over low heat and cut it into thin strips.

HOW TO COOK

1. Put beef broth and sliced beef into a pot. Once the broth comes to a boil, add garlic and fish sauce.
2. Add dumplings into the pot and boil for 10 minutes over medium heat.
3. Put the dumpling in a bowl and pour the soup in using a ladle.
4. Garnish with small green onions, prepared egg, laver, and red chili.

Chef’s Notes

1. From this recipe, you can make another meal called tteok-manduguk just by adding thinly sliced rice cakes into it.
2. You can use diagonally sliced green onions instead of small green onions.

 

This Dish Appears in the Following Korean Drama/s:

• Jewel in the Palace (2003-2004) - MBC
• Touch Your Heart (2019) - TVN

   

 

CHEF REGGIE’S TIPS

SUBSTITUTES

• Use short ribs in place of brisket. The bone and meat combination of this cut makes a more flavorful broth.
• You may use your favorite siomai or even your store-bought frozen siomai instead of mandu. You may use the siomai recipe I shared in this book (see page 143). You may also use mandu wrappers for my siomai filling or Lily’s mandu filling with siomai skins.
• I would add baby bok choi, either whole or sliced depending on the size, for a healthy touch to this dish. Malunggay would be interesting too; add just before serving.