wang-man-du or bigger dumplings?

I don't know how to describe it exactly...

"Wang-man-du" is definitely not a pork bun (cha-shu-bai?), nor a dimsum item. The filling is about the same as the regular man-du (wan-ton, dumplings, etc. with diced meat (usually pork), vegitables and/or tofu), but the size is bigger (the size of a fist of an adult female) and the wrap is a bit thicker (e.g. puffy), and they are usually steamed.

My wife and I had a pretty good one in L.A. (from a Korean-Chinese restaurant) when we were there, but we are not able to find anything even close in the South Bay.

We've looked at most of the Korean grocery stores and quite a few Korean-Chinese restaurants. However, only thing that looked like one was a frozen one and it wasn't pretty. :)

My wife tells me that her Chinese co-worker told her that some Chinese restaurants may have them.

Does anybody know what I am talking about? If so, any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hong.

Wang Mandu (king dumpling in Korean) can be found at Seoul Gom Tang in Oakland and they are very good. On busy days they actually run out of them so get there early...

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...

I think I know what you're talking about. The "wang-man-du" from Wang-Man-Tou (King mantou) in Chinese is a steamed pork bun - or more commonly a type of Baozi. If the skin is fluffy, white, then it is Baozi.

BaoZi is another one of the main food items that Shandong and northern parts of China is famous for. (Shui Jiao - water dumpling, Man Tou - steamd buns(no filling), BaoZi - steamed buns with filling, and Mian - noodles) However, Baozi and Mantou are normally not a restaurant food so it's harder to find than Shui Jiao and noodle dishes.

As another poster mentioned, Shan Dong restaurnt in Oakland Chinatown makes them but it was a "small" version that I tried.

The food court at Mission/Warm Springs Sogo also has a good version. It is slightly larger than Shan Dong's but also good. Let me know if that's the one you're talking about. Since I may be mixing it up with another type which doesn't have fluffy, white skin (which is even more rare)

-t

Shan Dong BaoZi: http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards/sanfrancisco10/messages/45907.html

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

I'm still not clear after all these descriptions whether the wrapper on Korean "wang man du" is pastry-flour fluffy like conventional cha siu bao wrappers or springy like what we usually call "mantou". They would make for two quite different eating experiences. I would guess the former, since the later would be harder to eat without making a mess.

Sorry for the confusion. I believe it is a bit fluffy, not really thin. :)

Here's a picture of various types of baozi you linked to in an earlier thread. Now I'm remembering having some enormous Gou Bu Li, funny that mention of the closed restaurant named after the giant baozi should come up again today too.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/22947#85990

Image: http://www.regenttour.com/china/food/...

I think BaoZi is the one (fluffy and white and big!) I was looking for, although the looks might not be exactly the same as the ones from the Melanie's picture.

Thank you all. I guess it's either Shan Dong in Oakland or the food court at Mission/Warm Springs Sogo. BTW, that food court must be in SF, right?

I figured about where Warm Springs is (in Fremont). So, do you know if they have BaoZi in Sogo, San Jose?

Since the baozi are sold by a vendor in the food court next to Sogo in Fremont, and not by Sogo itself, probably not likely.

could you be referring to goh-gee mandu? translated to meat mandu basically, these are steamed and the wrapper is a white dough similar to bbq pork buns, and they are similar in size to wang mandus (which means king mandu)

if so, there's a place in hayward that makes them really well, i'll try to find the info as it's been awhile since i've been down there

What we are interested in is the size of the man-du. They are about the size of the Chinese sweet (and red) pork buns or slightly bigger.

I may be completely off base, but if it's originally Chinese and I translate the "man-du" into the Cantonese "man-tow" then I have a pretty good idea of at least what the bun is like. I've never been a filled man-tow fan (I always liked mine sans filling) but they do have filled ones in Chinese bakeries.

dunno if anyone else has already said it, but that sounds just like a 'tsai ro bao' -- veggie and meat bun. the filling is ground pork and usually napa cabbage, and the white dough does rise a bit in the steamer (similar to mantoh dough). the size is usually 3-4 inches in diameter, and 1-2 inches high. my mother used to make them. they are best eaten hot out of the steamer, when you might still get some of the juice out of the filling. they may be had in exchange for 3 quarters at shan dong on 10th near harrison or webster in oakland chinatown.
again, try to get a fresh one right out of the steamer.
happy eating.

and they are not cantonese, which i guess makes them 'northern' by default.

That sounds like the one. Yes, it is definitely not gwang-dong. We should try it when we visit Oakland.

I have seen this at either a Korean or Chinese-Korean restaurant in the east bay, though I can't remember where at the moment. I'll try to scour the area, but I have had it here before. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

crimson out.

Thanks. Let us know if you remember the place.

Where in Los Angeles did you have this?

It was at a Korean shopping complex in the Korea Town (on Wilshire?). The place had a food court and there was a Korean Chinese place there (I think it was a branch of a bigger restaurant).

Was it in that multistory enclosed mall with the food court on the bottom level? If so, I think that would be Mandarin House.

Not that one. The food court was on the top floor.

The steamed pork buns at Taiwan on Clement (cross street 6th) in San Francisco have a savory dumpling-like filling encased in a sweetish white steamed bread. They're basically the standard steamed bbq pork bun but with pot-sticker-y filling. Perhaps this might approximate what you're looking for?

That might work... We should try it when we go up to SF. Thanks.

Not a source, sorry, but I did find a description in an English-language Korean publication, so people will know you aren't imagining something:

"Also popular are wangmandu, round steamed dumplings, and wangmanduguk, a soup made with the same dumplings. Each costs 5,000 won. One dumpling, or mandu, is almost the size of a small orange -- thus the modifier wang, which in Korean means king-size. The filling is a mixture of ground pork, tofu, garlic, bean sprouts and green onions."

Link: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200305...

of what vicinity are you looking? there might be some chinese places that have what you're looking for. especially at most dim sum take out places.

Santa Clara - San Jose, but we could try SF or the East Bay as well.

to give some more context, the wrap is the same bread as a normal chinese steam bread (like a steam bread bun with red bean paste in the middle). i've seen this called wang man du or even just jjim bbang (even when there is filling inside).

not to be discouraging, but i've never seen this in any korean restaurant in sf or the east bay (i don't know the south bay that well), and the korean markets here are so small that they usually don't have a hot food counter with a good selection. i'm not sure restaurants are your best bet; this is the sort of thing that i usually picked up at the hot food counter of korean grocery stores in l.a.

anyone with any chinese leads, please help!

the frozen ones are generally pretty terrible, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do . . .

I'm not quite sure what wang mandu might be, but there was a mystery bun (sweet steamed bread with gingery ground pork filling) served at Harbor Village in SF. I've linked the posts describing it below. It seemed to have confounded both the Northern Chinese and Southern Chinese who were in attendance at the lunch, neither of whom could claim it in their home cuisine. Even if it's not exactly what you're looking for, it seems to have been one of the favorite dishes and sounds delicious in its own right.

Has anyone had this lately?

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

It's not sweet, unfortunately. And what I was referring to is different from jjim-ppang. jjim-ppang is sweet, and is proably closer to what Melanie mentioned.

If I were to make wang-man-du's filling (I do make smaller ones sometimes at home), I'd use ground pork, green onions, and probably tofu, marinated just with soy sauce and possibly with some small amount of ginger (to counter the pork).

I think some Chinese folks make something like this, just with vegetables at home, as my wife's co-worker. But we can't ask his wife to make some more for us. :(

He told my wife that he thought a similar thing would be available in a Chinese restaurant, but so far no luck for us. >:(

Thanks for any suggestion.

I do not know this dish either but maybe if you can get do to Santa Clara and check a few of the eating places and supermarkets they may give you a clue.

The Korean eating corridoe is really big down there. Hope tanspace see this if anyone knows he would.

Good luck.

They usually have them at korean supermarkets (freshly made and packed in saran-wrap). you might want to stop by kyopo market or any of the other korean markets and ask where you can get wang-man-du (it means really bid dumpling in korean). or if you want to make your own, my mom used to just use the pilsbury biscuit dough for the otside--filling included tofu, cabbage, meat, ginger, garlic, green onions, and sometimes, lightly rinsed and squeezed kimchee.

I go to the "big 3" Korean supermarkets on El Camino Real pretty regularly. No luck there. If it was that easy, I wouldn't have come here. :p

I think I know what you are referring to. What I am talking about is somewhat bigger than those.

BTW, I've tried a frozen wang-man-du that looked close to what I was looking for, but just ruined my taste bud. :)