Hobak Mandu (호박만두)

In case you hadn't noticed, I changed the Motto of Baekin Kitchen. It was something corny like "Anyone can cook," (which I still believe, in spite of its corniness) or something equally cringe-worthy. Instead, we wanted something that gave a more accurate summary of what this blog is about. Thus, our new motto is "Inauthentically Authentic!"

I've said it, and I continue to own the fact that I'm not Korean. My partner Ami, who's also my wife's cousin, is Korean-American and learning to cook the dishes her mom makes now that she's out on her own. Neither one of us has the experience of a Maangchi or the knowledge of a David Chang. But, we are learning.

Our recipes are typically versions of dishes that we've had 100's of times and come up with our own recipes. Sometimes they're straight out of the family cookbook (literally, we have a family cookbook). Other times, I get a little crazy and come up with things like tteokbokki nachos.

"Inauthentically Authentic" is a nod to the fact that we are not coming to you as credentialed chefs or experienced ahjummas, but our food is the real deal.

If you use our recipes, awesome. If not, I hope you're at least a little inspired or made a little more curious about Korean food after poking around on Baekin Kitchen.

HOBAK MANDU

This week's Zuchinni recipe is for dumplings. THIS IS THE BEST DUMPLING RECIPE I HAVE EVER MADE! The important thing when making dumplings is that you have a lot of "stuff" to keep the filling from getting too dense. Kind of like when you make jeon (pancakes).

While zuchinni is the biggest ingredient in this recipe, the mandu don't taste overly zuchinniy

I'm going to put the recipe down, and it's delicious, but play around with ingredients on your own.

INGREDIENTS

1 Korean zucchini

1 half a white onion (medium to large) thinly sliced and minced

1 bunch green onions

4 Slices of thick cut pork belly (between 3/4 and 1 lb)

2 Tablespoons of diced shiitake mushrooms

4 Tablespoons of soy sauce

1 Teaspoon of black pepper

2 chili peppers (optional)

1 pack of mandu-pi (mahn-doo pee) dumpling wrappers - If you want to make your own here's a recipe

A small bowl of water for dipping your fingers when you wrap the mandu

DIRECTIONS

1) Lightly salt and pepper the slices of pork belly and cook in a pan. Let cool and finely mince pork.

2) Cut off ends of hobak (zucchini) and grate it into a bowl.

3) Using a strainer cloth, or your hands, squeeze the zucchini tightly to remove as much water as you can. Place drained zucchini in a large mixing bowl

4) Add sliced green onions, white onion, minced pork belly, pepper, and soy sauce to zucchini and mix thoroughly

5) Stuff your mandu-pi by placing a tablespoon of filling in the middle. Wet your index finger and trace a line around the edge and fold in your preferred style.

6) Place finished dumplings on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap to keep from drying out.