Colorful Korean Dumplings (Mandu)

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil; stir in noodles and return to a boil. Cook noodles uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and dice.

2. Place cabbage, onion, bell pepper, carrot, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until vegetables are diced.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Saute the vegetable mixture in the hot oil, stirring frequently, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add tofu; saute for 5 minutes.

4. Place filling in a cheesecloth and squeeze as much water out as possible. Transfer the filling to a bowl and mix in the diced noodles, scallions, and sesame oil until well combined.

5. Mix flour, beet juice, egg, and salt for dough together in a bowl and knead until cohesive but not sticky.

6. Roll out dough with a thin rolling pin, or roll it through your pasta machine at the thickest setting. Progressively roll the dough thinner until it reaches the second-thinnest setting on your machine--or, thin enough that it's see-through, but not quite transparent. Cut circles for dumpling wrappers with a 3 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or cup. Roll excess dough back through the machine, or with a rolling pin, repeating the process and cutting out more wrappers until you have no more dough left.

7. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each dumpling wrapper. Fold each wrapper in half and pinch all the way across until the dumpling is sealed firmly shut.

8. Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Working in batches, add dumplings, cover, and steam until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Cook's Notes:

I used dangmyeon, or Korean sweet potato cellophane noodles, in this.

You can use carrot, chard, spinach, or kale juice instead of beet.

Instead of steaming, you can fry the dumplings in hot oil, frying on each side until golden, 3 to 4 minutes.