So good morning from Seoul, South Korea.
It is a beautiful day out and we are starving.
We haven't had breakfast today and it is almost lunchtime.
So we're going out for Mandu (만두).
Yeah, this is one of our favorite Korean snacks and we can't wait to show you what it is all
about.
Let's go eat.
Alright, so the dumplings have arrived.
Yeah, so super exciting moment for me right now.
Hahaha.
We really like this restaurant.
It is just behind Hapjeong station (합정역) and they do specialize in Mandu (만두) so
let's take a look down here.
Oh but first.
Oh, cool.
We also got Manduguk (만두국).
Gamsahamnida.
But back to the main dish.
Yeah, back to the main dish.
You ordered a platter of Mandu (만두).
Yep.
Do you want to tell us a bit about it?
So take a look down here.
This is called Modum Mandu (모듬만두) and what that means is kind of assorted Mandu
(만두).
So we got a whole bunch of different kinds.
There is kind of like there is your regular Kimchi Mandu (김치만두) there is your
meat mandu (만두).
I think there is a curry mandu (카레만두) and there is another kind so we're going to
sample all of them.
We're going to be trying all of those.
Five different types.
Yeah and you can see their different shapes too which is really cool.
Oh la lah.
And then the other dish that we got which is right in front of you if we look down there
is Manduguk (만두국).
So that is basically your Mandu soup.
So I'm starting with the rather unusual one.
This is stuffed with curry.
Mmmm.
It stuck to my palette.
There we go.
Yeah, so it is not your average Indian curry.
It is like your Korean curry so it is kind of mild, yellow in color and yeah it is interesting.
I've never had a curry dumpling before.
Mmmm.
Okay so we have two orange dumplings.
This one here and this one so it has to be kimchi (김치) just based on the color alone.
I'm not sure if there is a difference.
Maybe one of them also has meat.
I think the round one might have meat.
The one that you picked up.
So I'm just going to dig right in.
Mmmmm.
Oh my.
Spicy!
This is like kimchi (김치) and spice.
Wow.
Oh.
Weren't expecting that huh?
Whew.
Oh, your turn.
Haha.
So I've been having my Mandu (만두) plain but technically you're supposed to make a
little sauce for it.
Yeah.
So this is a kind of a soy vinegar mixture here.
Yeah.
So we're going to pour a bit of this in here and then we have kind of some chili powder.
Just a little bit.
That stuff is potent man.
So I'm going to mix that around with the chopsticks.
Yep.
And voila.
We have our mix.
So which one are you going to try?
Alright, I think I'll try this one over here which I'm not entirely sure.
I think this might be a gogi one which is meat.
But I'll find out in a moment.
So put it in the dip.
One bite.
Mmmm.
That is a sweet meat one.
Oh, maybe it is bulgogi (불고기)?
I think it is bulgogi (불고기).
It does taste like bulgogi (불고기).
There you go.
Oh man that is so good.
This place does awesome mandu (만두).
Alright, let's go in for round two.
Alright so round two will be the other mystery one.
That looks like the classic like pork, noodles.
Yeah, we'll see what that one is.
Again, you are right.
Haa.
How do you know all this stuff?
I know them all.
How do you know this stuff?
I come here very often.
This is a very budget friendly meal so when I was first teaching in Korea and I had no
money I would go and get mandu (만두) for like two dollars and fifty cents.
Haha.
So I mean we can't really go wrong with this.
No you can't.
Okay, and let's go for the third one that we haven't tried which is the other kimchi
(김치) one.
And hopefully that one won't be as spicy but we'll see how you fare.
Mmmmm.
You know what?
That one it is spicy but it also a bit sweet.
So I definitely think it is different from the one you had but you do taste the kimchi
(김치) but you also taste quite a bit of meat as well.
Oh.
Really good.
So for myself I ordered the manduguk (만두국) so let's have a look at the bowl here.
This is a very light broth.
It has some like some whisked eggs in there, um some seaweed, some pepper and lots of dumplings
so you can just fish them out and put them on this little side bowl.
So yeah this is kind of like the type of meal you'd want to eat if you have a cold or you're
feeling kind of sick.
It is nice fall food.
Yeah, it is like I see it as the Korean version of like a chicken noodle soup.
Even though there is no chicken but you know what I mean it is just like a light broth.
So there we have the classic mandu (만두) in there.
This looks like the pork, noodle, veggie variety.
And it is still steaming so I don't want to burn myself.
Yeah, that is something we have a bad habit of doing when we eat.
We often burn ourselves.
We don't blow on our food to let it cool down.
That is nice.
How is that?
I like this one because it is not spicy.
It is just like very mild simple food and we'll grab some egg and some seaweed.
And you know it is starting to get really cold out so it is also just a nice meal to
be enjoying indoors.
Mmmm.
That is really nice.
Love this dish.
It is a classic.
Alright Sam, so do you want to give us a lesson on the history of mandu (만두)?
So they think it possibly came from Mongolia or from the Middle East via Central Asia along
the silk road.
And so it shares a lot of similarities with Central Asian Manti (Manty) yeah.
Mahnti.
Manti.
And also Tibetan Momos.
Yeah.
And it also reminds us a little bit of the kind of dumplings you get in different parts
of the world like Pierogi in Poland and also empanadas in South America so it is a food
we're very familiar with and it is something we love.
Also when you come to Korea you can get them in different forms.
The ones we're having here are steamed but you can also get them pan-fried and they're
called gunmandu (군만두) and they're typically in Korean Chinese restaurants.
And you can also get giant sized ones and they're called Wang Mandu (왕만두) and
they're also really good so there is a lot of different ones you can try.
Highly recommend it.
It is one of our favorite Korean snacks.
In terms of price point the Mandu platter.
The modum Mandu (모듬만두) came to three thousand five hundred Won and the Manduguk
(만두국) the soup was five thousand Won so in total that was W8500 KRW.
So really good value.
That is about around seven US dollars and this place is so popular they have two locations
right beside each other and once again it is behind Hapjeong station (합정역) so
definitely check it out if you're in Seoul.
And someone has a mouthful of candy.
Yeah.
How are you able to speak?
I have two mints in my mouth right now.
So you get free candy at the end.
Multitasking over here.