Pyeonsu (Kaesong Square Summer Dumplings)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine sieve
• •Clean kitchen cloth for squeezing vegetables and tofu
• •Wide pot for boiling dumplings
• •Slotted spoon or spider
• •Small nonstick skillet for jidan

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the broth

   Stir the chilled broth with the soup soy sauce, rice vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Taste it cold. It should be clear, lightly savory, and a little sharper than you expect, because the dumplings will soften the seasoning. Refrigerate it while you work, and skim away any fat that firms on top.

2. 2

   Salt the zucchini

   Dice the zucchini into pieces no larger than 1/4 inch. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and leave it in a sieve for 20 minutes, then squeeze it firmly in a clean cloth until it stops dripping. This is the step that protects the dumpling skin. Wet filling tears thin wrappers and clouds the broth.

3. 3

   Blanch the sprouts

   Boil the mung bean sprouts for 2 minutes, drain, and squeeze them dry. Chop them finely. They bring a clean crunch, but only if the water is pressed out first; otherwise the filling goes loose.

4. 4

   Dry the tofu

   Wrap the tofu in a clean cloth and press hard until it feels crumbly rather than damp. Measure out 150g after pressing if you can. Tofu gives body to the filling, but extra water is not generosity. It is trouble.

5. 5

   Mix the filling

   In a bowl, combine the squeezed zucchini, chopped sprouts, pressed tofu, ground beef, shiitake, scallions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, crushed sesame seeds, sugar, pepper, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix with your hand in one direction for 1 minute, just until the beef binds everything. The filling should hold together when pressed, not smear like paste.

   Cook 1 teaspoon of filling in a small pan and taste it before folding all the dumplings. 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on.
6. 6

   Fold square pyeonsu

   Lay one wrapper on the board and brush the edge lightly with egg white. Put 2 teaspoons filling in the center and tuck 1 pine nut into it. Bring four sides or four corners up to make a neat square parcel, pinching the seams tightly so the top closes cleanly. Keep the finished dumplings under a barely damp towel so the skins do not dry.

7. 7

   Make jidan

   Beat the egg yolk with a pinch of salt, then beat the white separately with a pinch of salt. Wipe a skillet with a little neutral oil and cook each into a very thin sheet over low heat. Let them cool, then cut into fine strips. Low heat keeps the color clean, which matters in a pale summer bowl.

8. 8

   Boil gently

   Bring a wide pot of water to a steady simmer, not a violent boil. Slide in the dumplings in batches and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until they float and the skins turn slightly translucent. Stir once from the bottom so they don't stick, but don't chase them around the pot. Rough water opens careful seams.

9. 9

   Chill the dumplings

   Lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon and rinse briefly in cold water to stop the cooking and wash off surface starch. Drain well on a tray. If serving cold, refrigerate them 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered, so they cool without drying.

10. 10

    Serve in broth

    Divide the chilled dumplings among shallow bowls, 7 or 8 per person. Pour the cold seasoned broth around them, not over them hard, so the seams stay neat. Finish with yellow and white jidan, cucumber matchsticks, and a few pine nuts if you like. Serve at once, with a small dish of soy-vinegar dipping sauce only for those who want it.

Chef Tips

• •Use the thinnest mandu wrappers you can buy, but don't use wonton skins if they are very fragile and dry. Pyeonsu should show a hint of green through the skin, not split in the pot.
• •The safe shortcut is store-bought wrappers and broth made the day before. The unsafe shortcut is skipping the squeezing. Zucchini, sprouts, and tofu all carry water, and pyeonsu punishes a careless hand.
• •If you want a clearer bowl for guests, boil the dumplings in plain water and serve them in separate chilled broth, as written. Cooking them directly in the serving broth is easier, but the broth will turn cloudy.
• •Pine nuts are small, but they change the bite. One inside each dumpling is enough. More than that and the filling stops tasting like zucchini and beef.
• •Leftover cooked dumplings keep one day in the refrigerator. Store them without broth on a lightly oiled plate, covered, then serve cold or rewarm gently in barely simmering water.

Advance Preparation

• •Make and chill the broth up to 2 days ahead. Season it after chilling, because cold fat is easier to remove and cold broth tastes less salty than warm broth.
• •The filling can be mixed up to 8 hours ahead and refrigerated. Stir it once before folding, and drain off any liquid that collects at the bottom of the bowl.
• •Fold the dumplings up to 4 hours ahead. Arrange them in one layer on a starch-dusted tray, cover lightly, and refrigerate. Do not stack them, because thin skins glue themselves together.
• •For a dinner party, boil and chill the dumplings 1 hour before serving, then hold them covered in the refrigerator. Add broth and garnish only at the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 470g)