Dumplings in Seoul

Yesterday I ate at the most fabulous dumpling shop.  It’s right near Gallery Dam, in Bukchon.  You place your order for meat, vegetable or seafood dumplings, everything else is self service and the Chinese family that runs the place shouts at each other vigorously in the background, which I always consider to be a good sign.  But that may be because I deeply believe in the healing power of constant bickering between family members, or because I have fond, fond memories of a donut shop off Gilman in Berkeley where the couple that owned it never seemed more than one wrong word away from going at it with well used cleavers.

Regardless, on to the dumplings.  Dumplings can be “too chewy”, masses of dough with little going on besides making you feel fat, greasy and full.  These were not those dumplings.  Light, and filled with good stuff.  We ordered both meat and vegetable dumplings.  The meat dumplings were OK, but the filling wasn’t all fireworks.  The vegetable dumplings were to die for, almost an herbal flavour going on inside.  The dipping sauce is just soy sauce with a little oiled chili flakes mixed in, and the pickles, seen hiding behind the steamer basket, were frighteningly fresh and crisp.  Each basket of six dumplings was 4000 Won, or 5000 for seafood, so $4-5 per order, totally a bargain.

On to the action.  That’s the innards of one of my vegetable dumplings, filled with chopped herbal mystery, a strong flavour that I can’t name, with a little egg in there.  Although I ate about eight of these things, I left feeling totally refreshed and ready for action.