Japchae 잡채
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.
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
Mince the garlic and mix soy sauce, brown sugar (or honey), sesame oil and ground black pepper marinade in a bowl.
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.
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.
Add to the beef in the marinade, and gently massage the marinade into the meat and mushrooms. Cover, and set aside.
JAPCHAE SAUCE
Add soy sauce, brown sugar (or honey), Korean sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and black pepper to a measuring jug.
Optional: Use a pestle and mortar to grind down some sesame seeds and add to the mixture.
Unceremoniously whisk all the ingredients together until a smooth consistent texture, set it aside.
VEGETABLE PREP
Rehydrated Wood ear mushrooms 30 minutes before you start cooking.
Wash and then julienne the large onion, bell pepper, carrot, green onions, shiitake mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms into thin strips.
Wash the spinach in cold water, and set aside for blanching later.
THIN EGG STRIPS
Beat two eggs and add a pinch of salt. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add oil.
Pour in the eggs and spread the eggs until they cover the surface in a thin layer.
Cook until the egg mixture starts to set, then flip over, and cook for another minute.
Set aside on a cutting board, and once cool, roll into a tube and slice into thin strips.
OBANGSAEK
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.
SAUTE THE VEGETABLES
Start on medium heat, and add a splash of oil to the frying pan.
Cook all the vegetables individually, adding the cooked veg into the waiting container.
Remember to add more oil between batches, and don’t forget to lightly salt as you go!
All the vegetables should be soft, but still maintain a light crunch.
Sliced onion
5 to 8 minutes
Green onions
1 minute
Carrots
3-4 minutes
Red pepper
1-2 minute
Wood ear mushroom
1 minute
BOILING THE SPINACH & NOODLES
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.
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!
Squeeze out excess water from spinach gently and place on a tray to cut later.
In the same spinach water, cook the Korean sweet potato noodles.
Boil noodles for 6 to 10 minutes, tasting at the 6 minute mark.
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.
Drain the cooked noodles and place in a large mixing bowl. Use scissors to cut the noodles into shorter strips.
Toss the noodles with drizzles of sesame seed oil immediately to keep them from clumping together.
COMBINE EVERYTHING!
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!
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,
A final sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds is required, then you’re all done!
