() is a square-shaped ''

mandu Mandu may refer to: Geographic toponyms * Mandu River, a river in Minas Gerais, Brazil * Mandu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a village * Mandu, Madhya Pradesh, a ruined city in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, India * Mandu, Jharkhand, ...

'' (dumpling) in

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine is the set of foods and culinary styles which are associated with Korean culture. This cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient Prehistoric Korea, agricultural and nomad ...

. It is a food typically served in summer, served chilled, and dipped in

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

and

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

. The city of

Gaeseong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close ...

North Hwanghae Province North Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaebuk-to; , lit. "north Yellow Sea province") is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital is S ...

is famous for its ''pyeonsu''.

Etymology

The origin of the word () is obscure. Some claim that it was derived from (), which appears in the 1527 book '' Collection of Characters for Training the Unenlightened'' as a borrowing from the

Old Mandarin Old Mandarin or Early Mandarin was the speech of northern China during the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasty and the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (12th to 14th centuries). New genres of vernacular literature were based on this langu ...

Chinese (, ) that meant "

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

s" at the time. In

Korean royal court cuisine Korean royal court cuisine was the style of cookery within Korean cuisine traditionally consumed at the court of the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1897. There has been a revival of this cookery style in the 21st century. It is sa ...

during the

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

era (1392–1897), wheat-skin dumplings boiled in water were called (), with the letters (; meaning any flour dough food) and (; meaning "spoon") which, combined, could refer to dumplings that are eaten with a spoon. It is also said that the name is Sino-Korean (), as the dumplings are served floating on water. Another claim is that the word was derived from (), which means "Byeon's dumplings", because it was first made by a person whose family name was ().

History

Although Korean ''mandu'' are believed to have first been brought to Korea by Yuan Mongolians in the 14th century during the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

, the variety ''pyeonsu'' is thought to be derived from

Ming Chinese The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

dumplings brought into the Korean peninsula by the

merchants based in

. During the Joseon era (1392–1897), wheat flour was a rare and expensive ingredient in most regions, except in

Hwanghae Province Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a reg ...

, where wheat was very common. Many dumpling varieties in that period were made with

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum'') or common buckwheat is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what ...

-flour, while in

, where the wheat was abundant, dumpling skins were made with wheat flour. Wheat dumplings, called ''pyeonsu'', were made with simple

tofu or bean curd is a food prepared by Coagulation (milk), coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', and ''extra (or super) firm''. It originated in Chin ...

and

mung bean sprout Mung bean sprouts are a culinary vegetable grown by sprouting mung beans. They can be grown by placing and watering the sprouted beans in the shade until the hypocotyls grow long. Mung bean sprouts are extensively cultivated and consumed in East ...

stuffings in poorer households, while extravagant versions with

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

and fresh

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

were made in wealthier households in Gaeseong. The 1809 compendium '' Women's Encyclopedia'' records that ''pyeonsu'' of Songdo (name of Gaeseong at the time) is famous and is made during the festivities around

Korean New Year () is a Korean traditional festival and national holiday commemorating the first day of the Korean calendar, Korean lunisolar calendar. It is one of the most important traditional holidays for Koreans, ethnic Koreans, being celebrated in bot ...

. Unlike other dumpling varieties, ''pyeonsu'' was not popularized on a nationwide scale during the 20th century and remains a regional specialty usually served only in Gaeseong-style restaurants.

Preparation

Wheat flour dough is made by mixing

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

with boiling water. The dough is then rolled thin and cut into squares to make ''pyeonsu''. Common fillings include meat and vegetables such as

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

and pheasant meat,

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

, and a couple of whole

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

s per dumpling. The stuffings are seasoned with salt and

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

, ground toasted

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

, and minced aromatic vegetables such as

scallion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, and

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

. The dumplings are boiled in a

-and-

-based broth, chilled, and served as is or in cold

chicken broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

Soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

mixed with

is usually served as

dipping sauce A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato ch ...

. Sometimes, ''pyeonsu'' can be served as warm ''pyeonsu-

guk ''Guk'' (), also sometimes known as ''tang'' (), is a class of soup-like dishes in Korean cuisine. ''Guk'' and ''tang'' are commonly grouped together and regarded as the same type of dish, although ''tang'' can sometimes be less watery than ' ...

'' (dumpling soup), with '' gomyeong'' (garnish) such as egg garnish and chopped

s on top.

References

{{Dumplings Dumplings Korean cuisine Kaesong

Etymology

History

Preparation

See also

References