Japchae (stir fried glass noodles with vegetables)

Japchae, Chapchae, or Jabchae, is a very popular korean dish made from cellophane noodles called dangmyeon  (the type of noodle used is made from sweet potato starch and becomes transluscent when cooked, hence it is sometimes called glass noodles), stir fried in sesame oil and a lot of vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, bell pepper, and spinach and flavoured with soy sauce and sugar. This dish is very versatile that it can be served as a meal by itself or it can be served as a side dish or a snack.  It can also be served either hot or slightly chilled.

This is my simple cook-it-yourself japchae.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound dried Korean sweet potato noodles
2 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3/4 cup thinly sliced onions
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 stalks green onions, cut into 1″ lengths
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 lb spinach, washed well and drained
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Procedure:

Fill a large pot with water and boil.

When water is boiling, add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes.

Immediately drain and rinse with cold water.

Drain again and toss with only 1 tsp of the sesame oil.

Use kitchen shears to cut noodles into shorter pieces, about 6-8 inches in length.

Set aside.

In bowl, mix soy sauce and sugar together.

Add the cooking oil in a wok or large saute pan on high heat and swirl to coat.

When the cooking oil is hot but not smoking, stir fry onions and carrots, until just softened, about 1 minute.

Add the garlic, green onions and mushrooms, stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Then add the spinach, soy sauce, sugar and the noodles.

Saute for 2-3 minutes until the noodles are cooked through.

Turn off heat, toss with sesame seeds and the remaining 1 1/2 tsp of sesame oil.

Prepare a platter lined with banana leaves before pouring your japchae.  Just for presentation purposes.  That's how i usually serve my japchae.

You may also add beef strips if you so desire. Just saute it until tender and then stir in the other ingredients.  But i prefer my japchae meat free.

Just like cooking your ordinary stir fried noodles.