Cycle 4 – Item 169

23 (Sun) June 2013

Mandu Guk

3.0

by me

at home

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

While I’ve made this dish countless times before, tonight’s rendition differs significantly on two counts.

First, I made the mandu myself.  Inspired by my ongoing search of the best Pyongyang-style mul naeng myeon at various northern-style Korean restaurants in Seoul (see SSPYSP), where mandu is often on the menu – mandu being a northern thing – I gave it a stab.  Mandu is so simple in essence – pork, tofu, mung bean sprouts, scallions, onions, garlic, ginger (maybe), salt/pepper – that it’s easy to approximate but difficult to perfect; I’m still in the early approximation phase.

Second, in making the soup, I tried a new beef broth concentrate product by the company Dasida.  Offered in both pure beef and beef bone varieties, I used the pure beef stock here.  It was light in texture yet rich in flavor but slightly artificial in aftertaste -overall, not too bad though, certainly worth keeping on hand.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)