Kimchi Mondu (김치만두)

This recipe is to pay homage to my Korean heritage. I used to make this in Korea all the time in big batches and freeze them for later. You could make the dumplings without kimchi but it gives the dumplings an added spice. Oh... did I mention, mondu is Korean for dumpling. (in case you were wondering)

Ingredients

1/2 a small green cabbage (finely chopped)

1/4 of an onion (finely chopped)

1 large white mushroom (finely chopped)

1 medium carrot (grated)

vegetable oil

vermicelli noodles (1/2 a cup, cooked; chopped)

tofu (1/2 the container, drained)

1/4 cup kimchi (finely chopped; optional)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame seed oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

1 pkg wonton shells

water to seal the shells

You want to be sure that all your vegetables are finely chopped because you are filling small wonton shells and if the mixture has too many big chunks it will overflow out of the shells. 

In a large pan, cook the first four ingredients in some vegetable oil on medium heat until the vegetables are almost tender. At this point you want to season the vegetables with some salt and pepper.The vegetables will shrink in size. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package instructions.

Once the noodles are done, drain, set aside and let cool. Once the vegetables are tender, add about half the kimchi and juices into the mixture.

At this point you are just combining the flavors so cook vegetables for another minute then take off the heat to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, crumble the tofu by hand. Add the remaining kimchi and juices along with the cooled chopped noodles. Combine. Add vegetables, egg, soy sauce and sesame seed oil to the mix and combine.

WARNING; the mix is not pretty. Spoon a tsp of the mixture in to the center of the shell. Using your finger, apply water to the edge of the shell, fold the shell over and crimp the edges with a fork.

Repeat... Then repeat... And repeat some more until all the shells are filled. 50 by my count.

Cook the dumplings on low heat with very little vegetable oil until the dumpling shells start to bubble very slightly. At this point, take off the heat and let the dumplings cool before placing in freezer storage bag and store in the freezer.

To serve, pan fry the dumplings on medium-high heat until the shells become golden brown. Serve with some soy sauce and enjoy!

(If you don't want the kimchi, or don't have any, follow the recipe and just omit the kimchi.)