Pyeongyang Manduguk

Ingredients

• 300g beef brisket, in one piece
• 2 litres cold water
• 1 onion, halved
• 5 garlic cloves
• 15g fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 30 round dumpling wrappers, 10cm across
• 250g pork mince
• 200g firm tofu
• 200g sour napa cabbage kimchi
• 150g mung bean sprouts
• 4 spring onions
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce for soup (guk-ganjang)
• 2 eggs
• 1 sheet roasted seaweed (gim)
• 1 tsp neutral oil

Before you cook

• Soak the brisket in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain it.
• Wrap the tofu in a cloth and wring it as dry as you can, then crumble it into a large bowl.
• Squeeze the kimchi hard to remove the liquid and chop it finely.
• Chop the spring onions, keeping half back for the soup.
• Separate the eggs into whites and yolks in two bowls.
• Set a small bowl of water beside your work surface for sealing the dumplings.

Steps

1. Put the brisket, 2 litres of cold water, the onion, whole garlic cloves, ginger and peppercorns into a pot and bring it to the boil.
2. Skim the foam, drop the heat to a bare simmer and cook for 1 hour.
3. Lift out the brisket and strain the broth into a clean pan.
4. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and blanch the mung bean sprouts for 2 minutes.
5. Drain the sprouts, squeeze them dry and chop them roughly.
6. Add the pork mince, tofu, kimchi, sprouts, half the spring onion, the minced garlic, the sesame oil, the soy sauce, the salt and the pepper to the bowl.
7. Knead the filling with your hand for a full minute until it holds together in a mass.
8. Lay a wrapper on your palm and put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the middle, which is more than you would use for a southern mandu.
9. Wet the rim of the wrapper, fold it into a half-moon and press the edges firmly to seal.
10. Bring the two corners of the half-moon together and pinch them so the dumpling sits upright, then repeat with the rest.
11. Slice the cooled brisket thinly and season it with a pinch of salt and pepper.
12. Wipe a non-stick pan with oil, cook the yolks and then the whites into thin sheets over low heat, and cut both into strips.
13. Season the strained broth with the light soy sauce and bring it back to a rolling boil.
14. Slide in the dumplings a few at a time and cook them for 6 minutes, until they float and the wrappers turn translucent.
15. Ladle the dumplings and broth into four deep bowls.
16. Top each bowl with the sliced brisket, the egg strips, the remaining spring onion and crumbled seaweed.