Italian mandu : my first cooking contest
After the savoury one (the Korean crostata), here it is the sweet recipe: Italian mandu.
I followed the same principles than the Korean crostata: creating a bridge between these two different worlds and making a trompe l’œil.
What are mandu? They are the Korean dumplings and normally they are a savoury dish.
For this contest, I create a sweet mandu version, with an Italian filling, similar to the Sicilian cannoli’s one, with ricotta cheese, chocolate and fruit.
It takes me a lot of time and reflection to prepare this dish, because every time there was something missing: the dough too tasteless, the filling too strong…
Only the last day, I finally found the perfect idea.
I can say the jury enjoyed so much that there were no mandu left in the plate.
ITALIAN MANDU
INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH
100g of flour
10g of sugar
56g of warm water
lemon zest
1 tbsp of Omija syrup
1/3 tsp of miso
1 pinch of salt
INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING
3/4 grated apple
25g of ricotta cheese
2 squares of grated dark chocolate
3 dried persimmons
1 walnut
10g of sugar
1 tbsp of Omija syrup
lemon zest
COOKING INGREDIENTS
1 or 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
~ 125ml of water
DIPPING SAUCE
Omija syrup
3 drops of lemon juice
PREPARATION: 20 MIN
RESTING TIME: 45 MIN OR MORE
COOKING: 05-10 MIN
DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM
SERVING: 2
Start preparing the dough.
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them until they become a uniform and smooth ball. Wrap it with cling film and let it rest for at least 45 minutes or more into the fridge (more it rests, more the dough becomes elastic)
When the dough is almost ready getting out of the fridge, start preparing the filling.
Chop the walnut and the persimmons, then mix them in a bowl with the apple, the chocolate, the ricotta cheese, the sugar, the syrup and the lemon zest.
Get the dough out of the freezer, dust with flour the working surface, roll it into a rope and cut 8 balls the size of a walnut.
Flatten each ball, dust it with flour and roll it out into roundish wrappers.
Hold one wrapper with one hand, put a teaspoon of the filling in the center of it and start sealing the edges with the other hand, pressing enough to seal well the mandu.
Heat a frying-pan with the vegetable oil over high heat.
Let the oil heat up, then place the mandu in the pan. Let them cook for 1 or 2 minutes or until the bottom turn golden brown.
Add the water, turn the heat to medium-low, cover immediately with a lid and let them cook for 5 minutes, then uncover and let all the water evaporate.
Take the mandu with a spatula and plate them.
Serve with a dipping sauce made with the Omija syrup and 3 drops of lemon.
Enjoy the Italian mandu…
Bon Appetit!!
