It has been 2 months now since returning from our trip to Asia and I am still missing everything about it. The culture, the food, the excitement of it all. But after 10 months of travelling and living out of a suitcase, I was feeling it was time to go home. We were in Thailand and our last stop was Seoul, Korea to visit some of Robs Family. When we arrived in Korea after hours of delayed flights and had our first night exploring the city, I felt rejuvenated and didn’t want to go home. We had only booked a week and already knew it wasn’t enough.

I had never given much thought abut travelling to Korea, didn’t know much about it and my knowledge was very limited with Korean Food. Yes, a few Korean Barbecue’s here and there and some store bought Kimchi but it stopped there. Now, if I had known what we were about to get ourselves into in the following week, Seoul would have been a priority to visit a long time ago.

The first night we had stayed next to Namdaemun Market, and outdoor and indoor market selling everything from hot dogs covered in potatoes and deep fried, to an indoor area with over 100 stalls selling hand made jewelry. It was crowded, a little chaotic but organized, everything you would expect from a market in the middle of a capital city of 10 million people. I loved it.

After a bowl of Kimchi-Jjigae, or Kimchi Stew, and a Bibimbap with more sides then we could have ever thought possible, all extremely delicious and complementing of each other, it was time to leave downtown and head to a suburb of Seoul to stay with Robs Family. The next 6 days we spent there went by in a whirl win of eating, eating, and more eating. It was exactly the vacation I was after. We tried to sample everything that Seoul had to offer. Two hour lunches were an everyday occurrence where we tried everything from Korean Barbecue, rolling your own spring rolls, and the most delicious Gochujang noodle dish called Bibim Nengmyun. It was one of the few dishes that I ordered more than once.

After a small tour of different areas of the city each day, we would head home where an hour siesta took place before the dinner feast would begin, yes, feast. One night they took us to a Korean sushi restaurant where 30 different dishes came out, there was 5 of us, and then when we were almost finished, picking at the last few dishes that were left, the waitress came by and delivered the main. WHAT? There was more. And it was not just a little more … it was 60 pieces of sashimi. SiXTY!!!!!

This was one of those moments where I needed the stomach of that Japanese Guy who wins all those hot dog competitions. Seriously, where does he put it all.

We gave it our best but in the end, we were all defeated. It was fine as the nights leftovers became the morning breakfast. And then, the feasting would begin again. After seven days of the most amazing trip anyone could ever ask for, it was time to head back home.

But there was one last thing that needed to be done, making Mandu.

The process started at 7:00 in the morning, and went on until lunch time. This is defiantly not a dish that you can whip up in a pinch and its better to have some helping hands around, especially if you plan on making a good size batch. We made over 60 Mandu and there was seven of us in the house, three were children. That is 8 or 9 Mandu each and these things are not your average size wonton, they hold about four times the filling, and they are delicious. Worth every minute you spend making them. Rob and I each got through three or four before surrendering. We were also being served Kimchi-Jjigae in-between folding Mandu and having our last samples of their 10 different kinds of homemade Kimchi’s, my favourite new one being Water Kimchi.

1) First, break the sweet potato noodle into small pieces and cook according to directions. Drain and cool. Next, cook the ground pork with black pepper, salt and garlic (no oil). Set aside until cool. Grab a clean bowl and add all the ingredients, except the mandu or wonton wrappers, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings

2) Now it is time to assemble the mountain of Mandus. Grab a few tablespoons of filling and place into the middle of the wrapper leaving an edge around the sides. This might take a few times to get the right ratio of filling to wrapper

3) Place water around the edges with your finger and press into a half moon shape to seal

4) Next grab the two corners and pinch together with some water. Tada! Mandu is created!

5) Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Till all is done. Make sure you set a damp tea towel or cheese cloth over the wrappers and prepared Mandu so that they do not dry out

6) Set a steamer basket over a pot of slightly boiling water. Add a little oil to the bottom of each Mandu and steam in batches until done. Serve with Soy dipping sauce and feast your heart out

Notes:

-If you use Round wonton wrappers, this recipe will make around 180 or more as Mandu are quite large. I would recommend scaling back the recipe or you might be spending days wrapping them, unless you want that many

-If you cant find sweet potato noodles you can substitute rice vermicelli noodle

-Make extra!