Most people think that mandu is a winter food to be eaten with tteokguk (rice cake soup) on the morning of Seol (New Year's day). But mimandu is a luxury tidbit which is eaten by dipping it in soy sauce or by having it with cold soup.

Mimandu is so named because its shape resembles a trepang (sea cucumber) and is also "gyuasang." To cook gyuasang, prepare a stuffing by mixing thin-sliced, salted and fried cucumber, minced and fried beef, shiitake mushrooms and pine nuts. Place a spoonful of the filling on a thin circular paste of wheat dough, pull the paste up in the form of a trepang, seal along the side around the filling and steam it on ivy leaves. When putting gyuasang on a tray, first lay ivy leaves on the tray and then put it on the ivy leaves. This looks cool and refreshing as the green hue of the cucumber is well-matched with the ivy leaves.

The chewy taste of the filling combined with the soft taste of the covering is wonderful. Mimandu can be made using a variety of pastes such as wheat, buckwheat and fish, while the filling can be varied according to the season.