Korean Stir Fried Noodles (잡채, Jap-chae)
Japchae is traditionally served as a side dish for special occasions. The noodles are made from sweet potato starch, which makes it naturally gluten free and healthy! Mixed vegetables such as onions, mushrooms, carrots, and spinach are stir-fried with the noodles to create this beautiful dish.
This recipe I've incorporated some Korean BBQ beef (Bulgogi) that I had in my freezer to save time. You can omit this if you do not have this, or if you want to keep the dish vegetarian. This dish can be served hot or cold. My kids LOVE this dish, and I hope that you enjoy it too!
Quick Notes
⏲ <1 hr
🍆 Vegetarian friendly (omit the beef)
🇰🇷 Some ingredients may need to be bought at a Korean grocery or online
👨👩👧👦 Serves 4 people
👍🏻 Very easy and great for beginners!
What you'll need:
4 cups of sweet potato noodles (Dangmyeun, 당면), soaked for at least 30 minutes
1/2 lb of Korean BBQ Beef (Bulgogi)
1/2 carrot, julienned
1/2 onion, sliced
1 handful of spinach
3 shitake mushrooms, sliced (if you use dried shitake mushrooms, soak in warm water for 3 hrs)
3 green onions, cut into roughly 2 inch pieces
1 green onion chopped
1 egg yolk (for garnish)
Cooking oil
Sesame seeds
Salt
Ground pepper
Sauce:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (rice wine)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions:
Prepare the sauce:
Add the ingredients listed above, and mix. Set aside.
Prepare the vegetables:
Julienne the carrot, slice the onion, and roughly chop the green onions. Slice the shitake mushrooms.
Blanche the spinach in boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Then rinse in cold water. Squeeze out excess water, and chop as shown. Set aside.
Scramble 1 egg yolk with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add to oiled wok over medium heat, flip when one side is cooked. Roll the flat egg sheet and thinly slice as shown. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and the chopped green onion to a wok over medium-high heat. Then, add the carrots, onions, spinach, shitake mushroom, and green onion.
Add 2 tablespoons of the sauce and some ground pepper. Sautee for about 5 minutes, until onions are transparent, and remove from heat. Set aside.
Prepare the meat:
I used half of a frozen Korean BBQ beef pack, thawed. Add to the wok on medium heat, cook for about 5 minutes until the meat is cooked through. Then chop the meat as shown. Set aside.
And now the rest:
Add the rest of the sauce to the wok, and heat on medium-high. Once the sauce is boiling, add the soaked noodles. The noodles will start to become transluscent. This will take about 5 minutes. Then, add the meat and the vegetables. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil. Mix everything together. Put the dish on a serving platter, then add the egg garnish over the top.
And when you're done, be sure to post some pictures and tag them with #ahjummarecipes. I'd love to see your results!