Cycle 14 – Item 269
1 (Sun) September 2023
Ban-Ban Mandu
2.5
-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
solo
Gaeseong Son Mandu (개성손만두) is a Korean restaurant. Specializes in Gaesong-style (see below) handmade (son) dumplings (mandu). Part of a chain with countless locations across the country – in fact, the name is so generic that some restaurants with the name may be independent/unrelated businesses.
DID YOU KNOW: Gaeseong is a city in North Korea. Current population just shy of 200,000 (as of 2009). On the edge of the north-south border, the city hosted the Kaeseong Industrial Region for economic collaboration between the two countries, operating from 2002 to 2016. As the capital of Korea under the Goryeo dynasty from 919 to 1392, it was for nearly 5 centuries the center of Korean culture, including gastronomy, particularly court cuisine.
Whereas virtually all Korean mandu taste the same – stuffed with a similar formulation of ground pork and dubu, sometimes kimchi for kick – Gaesong-style mandu are distinct in 2 structural regards. First, they’re big, sometimes referred to more generically as “wang (king)” mandu, each dumpling larger than a golf ball, usually requiring at least 2 bites to consume. Second, they’re round, shaped by placing a dollop of filling in the center of a round wrapper, folding the wrapper in half and sealing the perimeter (this is where the formation of most mandu end), then bringing the tips of the half-moon together to form a circular bun, not entirely unlike the method for chaoshou (see generally 13.287 (Suanla) Chaoshou). Not a big deal in either respect, most people having no idea.
Waiting for Louis Le Pieux’s spa treatment to finish (see most recently 14.152 (“Korean-Style”) Chicken Burrito (sans Pepperoni) (with Cheese!)), I wandered the neighborhood and came across the restaurant. A plate of mandu with a bottle of beer was a perfect mid-afternoon snack to while away the time.
The mandu were okay. Although steamed to order, the edges of the mandu skins were dried out to the point of being inedible, probably leftover from the lunch service. The fillings were nice, clearly produced in-house (even if based on a corporate recipe with centrally sourced ingredients). At 10,000 won, I wasn’t complaining.
I wouldn’t object to a return visit to try the mandu in a jeongol.
(See also HANSIK)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)