Pyeonsu (Kaesong Square Summer Dumplings)

Pyeonsu belongs to summer, when zucchini is sweet and thin-skinned and the table wants something cool but still careful. Cook the month you're standing in. If your zucchini is watery and tired, don't force this dish; make a stew tonight and wait for better vegetables. Pyeonsu asks for good knife work more than expensive ingredients.

My teacher, Master Seong-nyeo, made us cut the zucchini twice: once with the knife, once with salt. The knife makes the pieces even. The salt pulls out water so the dumpling doesn't burst in the pot. People remember the square shape and forget the draining, then blame the wrapper. No. The filling was too wet.

These are not heavy winter mandu. They should be small, pale, and clean, with the green showing faintly through the skin and one pine nut tucked inside like a promise someone bothered to keep. I won't tell you this is quick. You will chop, salt, squeeze, season, fold four corners, and chill the broth. But the reward is a bowl that feels composed without being cold-hearted, special enough for guests and still honest to the home table. Write it down. Memory is a borrowed bowl.