There are as many variations of Korean dumpling soup as there are variations of dumplings and broths—you can mix and match your favorites. I like to make my broth as simple as possible. This one comes together in less than an hour without compromising on flavor. The meaty dumplings are subtly garlicky from the Korean chives and they pair nicely with the umami-packed dasima anchovy broth. This recipe yields a lot of dumplings and broth, but you can freeze half of each to enjoy the fruits of your labor a second time around.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 3 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 2 hr |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings (makes about 50 dumplings) |
Ingredients
- 4 ounces mung bean sprouts
- 7 ounces soft tofu, drained
- 2 ounces dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodles)
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 4 ounces ground beef
- 4 ounces Korean chives, chopped (about 1 cup chopped)
- 2 teaspoons mirin
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- Kosher salt
- Two 14-ounce packages round dumpling wrappers
- Four 4-inch squares dasima
- 40 dasima anchovies (large dried anchovies for soup or stock; about 3 ounces)
- 1 cup dried shrimp (about 4 ounces)
- 4 scallions, dark green parts sliced on the bias, white and light green parts left whole
- 1 onion, skin-on, halved
- 1/2 Korean radish (about 8 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- For the dumplings: Prepare an ice bath and bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Blanch the bean sprouts until slightly softened and crunchy, about 1 minute; transfer to the ice bath. (Do not discard the boiling water.) Drain the bean sprouts, then transfer them to a piece of cheesecloth or a kitchen towel and wring dry, removing as much water as possible. Chop the bean sprouts finely and add to a large bowl. In the same cheesecloth or kitchen towel, wring dry the tofu. Add the tofu to the bowl with the bean sprouts.
- Add the dangmyeon to a medium bowl and pour the reserved boiling water over the noodles to soak until pliable and translucent, about 10 minutes. Drain the noodles and let cool until ready to handle; chop finely and add to the same large bowl. Add the pork, beef, chives, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and mix to combine. (This is a loose and crumbly filling.)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set the dumpling wrappers nearby with the floured surface facing down; place a small bowl of water next to them. Spoon about a scant tablespoon of the filling in the center of a wrapper. Wet the edge of the wrapper with water using your finger and fold and seal the circle in half like a taco. Cover with a slightly damp towel to keep from drying out. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers. Transfer the dumplings to the freezer while preparing the broth.
- For the broth: Fill a 10- to 12-quart stockpot three-quarters full with water (about 8 quarts). Add the dasima and let soak until it doubles in size and the water turns a slight green-yellow, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove the heads of the dasima anchovies and split them in half along the spines to remove the black innards.
- Bring the dasima pot to a boil over medium-high heat; boil until the dasima starts to foam around the sides, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard the dasima, then add the anchovies, dried shrimp, scallion whites, onion and radish. Bring back to a boil, then lower the heat to medium low and cook at a gentle boil with a lid on (where you see 3 to 4 bubbles appearing on the surface at most) until some broth has evaporated and the remaining broth is slightly darker, about 50 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and add the broth back to the same pot. Season with the fish sauce, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons salt and a few cracks of freshly ground pepper. (If additional seasoning is needed, season to taste with salt as the soy sauce will darken the broth too much.)
- At this point, you can cool down half of the broth and freeze it and along with half the dumplings for a later date (make sure to keep the broth and dumplings in separate containers).
- Bring the broth to a boil, gently drop in the dumplings and cook until the dumplings float to the top, the filling is opaque and the wrappers are translucent, about 8 minutes. (Dumplings that are frozen solid may take longer.) Pour the beaten egg over the soup, close the lid immediately and turn off the heat. Let sit until the eggs are cooked through, about 1 minute. Add the reserved scallion greens and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 623 |
| Total Fat | 15 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 4 grams |
| Cholesterol | 264 milligrams |
| Sodium | 3045 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 95 grams |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 grams |
| Sugar | 3 grams |
| Protein | 30 grams |
Reviews
I made this for the Lunar New Year, felt it ideal for the year of the Rabbit. Did not have dasima or the dasima anchovies, did use the nuac mam & soy as listed. Decided to grab a lobster tail for additional seafood umami, also had frozen beef mandu dumplings in stock. Homemade chicken stock, so very rich & flavorful. I highly recommend giving this a try, particularly if you have some substitutions available for what is not in my market. Poached the lobster & cut it up to add to the soup, a lovely choice for richness & a nod to prosperity. It was delicious, complex yet not difficult to make. The technique of pouring the eggs over the soup pot & covering produced pillowy bites of egg for all. For a relative novice to making Korean food in my home kitchen, the recipe is not intimidating & oh so very tasty.
Lot of pain and today
Awesome