Japchae 잡채

A plate of Korean japchae, a stir-fried noodles with vegetables and beef, garnished with sesame seeds on a blue plate.
Martina's hand using tongs to lift cooked glass noodles from a metal bowl with vegetables.

Japchae is a sweet and salty Korean noodle dish. Made using sweet potato noodles called 당면 “Dangmyeon”, japchae has a delightful texture and a colourful medley of ingredients.
All accented with thin strips of marinaded beef and mushrooms,
I have never met a person who doesn’t like the taste of this dish.

It isn’t difficult to prepare, it just has a lot of mini-steps.

In a nutshell, you'll marinade the meat and prepare the japchae sauce. Then, cook all the vegetables, the omelet, and the meat separately. Finally, you’ll boil the noodles and toss everything together with the delicious japchae sauce.

A woman, Martina, with tattoos on her arm holding a bowl of Japchae stir-fry, smiling in a cozy kitchen with wall art, shelves, and a neon cloud with a rainbow sign.

INGREDIENTS

KOREAN SWEET POTATO NOODLES

2-3 Bundles of Dangmyeon 당면

BEEF & MUSHROOM MARINADE



100-250g Beef
(skirt steak, flank, sirlion, or short ribs)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar (or honey)

½ tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

JAPCHAE SAUCE


1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar (or honey)

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
+ ground sesame seeds

1/2 tsp black pepper

VEGETABLES

½ large onion

1/2 red or yellow bell pepper

1 small carrot

1 bunch of green onions

1 large bunch spinach

4-5 shiitake mushrooms (soaked and rehydrated)*

Optional: 4 wood ear mushrooms (soaked and rehydrated)*

*If using dried mushrooms: rehydrate in hot water for 20-30 min. Gently squeeze out excess water.

THIN EGG STRIPS

2 eggs, lightly beaten

vegetable oil for cooking

pinch of salt

BEEF & MUSHROOM MARINADE

Person pouring soy sauce from a small bottle into a red dipping container over a large glass bowl.

Mince the garlic and mix soy sauce, brown sugar (or honey), sesame oil and ground black pepper marinade in a bowl.  

A hand holding a small brown dried mushroom against a blurred background with colorful rainbow lights.

Rehydrated Shiitake 30 minutes before you start cooking. Once the mushroom has puffed up, remove the woody stems, and slice the rehydrated mushroom caps into thin strips. 

A person is slicing raw beef steak into strips on a white cutting board with a large chef's knife. The person's hand is holding the meat steady.

Slice the beef against the grain, and put the strips into the marinade bowl. 

PRO TIP: Pop the beef in the freezer for 10-15 min, it makes cutting thin strips much easier.

Person mixing a bowl of marinated ingredients in a clear glass bowl on a wooden kitchen countertop.

Add to the beef in the marinade, and gently massage the marinade into the meat and mushrooms. Cover, and set aside. 

JAPCHAE SAUCE

Kitchen countertop with various cooking ingredients and utensils including a glass bowl with chopped garlic, a container of ground spices, a jar of sesame seeds, a bottle of roasted sesame oil,a glass measuring cup.

Add soy sauce, brown sugar (or honey), Korean sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and black pepper to a measuring jug.

A person pouring a powdered ingredient from a small container into a measuring cup with dark liquid inside, on a kitchen counter.

Optional: Use a pestle and mortar to grind down some sesame seeds and add to the mixture.

Person holding a glass and mixing a dark liquid with crushed red pepper flakes using a spoon.

Unceremoniously whisk all the ingredients together until a smooth consistent texture, set it aside.

VEGETABLE PREP

Close-up of a hand holding a piece of chocolate treatment waffle with a blurred colorful rainbow neon light in the background.

Rehydrated Wood ear mushrooms 30 minutes before you start cooking.

A metal tray with various thinly sliced vegetables including shredded carrots, white onions, red bell peppers, green beans, and black mushrooms, placed on a wooden surface.

Wash and then julienne the large onion, bell pepper, carrot, green onions, shiitake mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms into thin strips. 

Person holding a glass container filled with fresh green spinach leaves.

Wash the spinach in cold water, and set aside for blanching later. 

THIN EGG STRIPS

A red mushroom-shaped salt or pepper shaker, a blue ceramic egg holder, a white bowl with two raw eggs, a garlic press, a tray with onions, and a container with green onions and red and green peppers on a wooden kitchen counter.

Beat two eggs and add a pinch of salt. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add oil.  

Eggs being poured into a frying pan on a stovetop.

Pour in the eggs and spread the eggs until they cover the surface in a thin layer. 

A yellow omelette on a white cutting board, with a knife and a banana in the background.

Cook until the egg mixture starts to set, then flip over, and cook for another minute.

Sliced egg omelette resembling noodles on a metal tray in a kitchen, with a wooden countertop and a cutting board in the background.

Set aside on a cutting board, and once cool, roll into a tube and slice into thin strips.  

OBANGSAEK

Close-up of a colourful Korean Japchae noodle salad with vegetables, sesame seeds, and sliced meat on a turquoise plate.

A note on keeping colours: we want to preserve the individual, bright colours of each vegetable.  

The Korean colour concept of “OBANGSAEK
오방색” is prominent in this beautiful celebration dish, which is why you pan fry each vegetable individually. 

An easy rule: cook from lightest to darkest. It prevents your orange carrots dying the white onion.  

A cup with sliced vegetables including carrots, red bell peppers, green onions, and dark wood ear mushrooms.

SAUTE THE VEGETABLES

Close-up of oil pouring into a frying pan.

Start on medium heat, and add a splash of oil to the frying pan.  

Martina adding sliced vegetables into a frying pan on an electric stove, with a tray of prepared vegetables nearby on the kitchen counter.

Cook all the vegetables individually, adding the cooked veg into the waiting container.  

Sliced red and orange bell peppers being sautéed in a frying pan on an induction cooktop.

Remember to add more oil between batches, and don’t forget to lightly salt as you go!

Chopped vegetables including carrots, onions, green onions, and peppers in a metal mixing bowl.

All the vegetables should be soft, but still maintain a light crunch. 

Sliced onions cooking in a frying pan on a stovetop.

Sliced onion
5 to 8 minutes

Green onions being sautéed in a frying pan.

Green onions
1 minute

Person cooking shredded carrots in a frying pan on a stove.

Carrots
3-4 minutes

Sliced red and orange bell peppers cooking in a pan.

Red pepper
1-2 minute

A frying pan on a stovetop with cooked mushrooms inside.

Wood ear mushroom
1 minute

BOILING THE SPINACH & NOODLES

Close-up of a pot on a stove with a glass lid, condensation forming underneath, warm yellow lighting in the background.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  You are going to cook the spinach in the same water as the noodles, so prepare a bowl of ice water. 

Close-up of a person's hand using tongs to pick fresh spinach leaves from a metal container on a warming device.
Fresh green leafy spinache in a metal pot filled with cold water on a wooden surface.

Add the spinach to the boiling water, cook about 10-20 seconds.

Put the spinach into ice water immediately to stop the cooking. The colour should be a vibrant, dark green!  

Person holding green cooked spinach with water squeezed out above a metal bowl in a kitchen.

Squeeze out excess water from spinach gently and place on a tray to cut later.

A woman with blonde hair and pink tips, Martina, cooking on a stove, pouring ingredients from a bag labeled with Korean characters.

In the same spinach water, cook the Korean sweet potato noodles.

Boil noodles for 6 to 10 minutes, tasting at the 6 minute mark.  

Close-up of a stainless steel pot with steam rising from it, against a blurred warm-colored background.

Not all noodles are made the same, so the time may vary:

Overcooked noodles:
very easy to bite through, soggy. 

Perfectly cooked:
a little bouncy, chewy, but soft.

Undercooked:
a little crunchy with a small bounce sensation. 

Close-up image of Korean glass noodles called dangmyeon being lifted out of a pot.

Drain the cooked noodles and place in a large mixing bowl. Use scissors to cut the noodles into shorter strips.

Close-up of Korean dangmyeon glass noodles being cooked in a pot on a stove

Toss the noodles with drizzles of sesame seed oil immediately to keep them from clumping together.

COMBINE EVERYTHING!

A person is holding a metal mixing bowl with cooked Korean dangmyeon glass noodles, and using tongs to stir them.

Pour 2/3 of the sauce into the noodles and gently mix until noodles absorb the sauce.

Pro Tip: using your hand or tongs is the easier way! 

A person pouring a dark sauce into a bowl of stir-fried vegetables and Korean dangmyeon glass noodles.
A person with cherry blossom tattoos on their arm preparing Japchae with noodles, vegetables, and sliced beef in a metal mixing bowl in a kitchen.

Take all the cooked ingredients - vegetables, meat and mushrooms - and gently fold in a large bowl. Once evenly mixed, add the remaining sauce.

Add and gentle fold in the cooked egg strips last as they are delicate and gently toss everything together to make the mixture nice and evenly distributed,

Person is pouring ingredients into a large metal mixing bowl containing vegetables and meat in a kitchen.

A final sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds is required, then you’re all done!

A plate of Korean dangmyeon glass noodles known as Japchae with vegetables and pieces of meat, garnished with sesame seeds on a blue plate.
Person using chopsticks to lift a portion of Japchae glass noodles from a stainless steel bowl on a wooden table.
Stylized text reading "Captain Martina" with a yellow star at the end of a curved yellow line and pink dots and hearts around the text.

Best served warm or at room temperature and enjoy!

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