order dishes when eating at Korean restaurants. (another one is sea food
pancake!) I love the chewy texture of Korean style glass noodles and the taste
with various ingredients (meat, vegetables, eggs…). Have heard Japchae is
Korean classic dish particularly for festive days or special occasions, but I
believe nowadays you can enjoy Japchae whenever you want. I think the method is
not difficult, but it takes time to prepare and cook the ingredients one by one
before you mix everything together. Here is how I made this Japchae :
Ingredients :
-Korean sweet potato starch noodles / glass noodles / Dangmyeon (당면)
(You can buy it from oriental supermarkets, if not, use rice noodles as
substitute but be aware it won’t have the same chewy taste.)
-Carrots, thinly sliced.
-Shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced. (I used wild mushrooms)
-Red pepper, cut into strips.
-Spinach.
-Pork belly, cut into strips.
-1 to 2 eggs.
-Roasted white sesame seeds.
To marinate the meat :
-Soy sauce, 2 tbsp.
-Sugar, 1 tbsp.
-Vinegar, 2 tbsp.
-Sesame oil, 2 tbsp.
-White pepper, 1 tsp.
-Minced garlic
Mix pork belly strips with above sauce mixture and leave it for about 15
minutes.
To make egg garnish :
-Crack the eggs and lightly whisk.
-Add oil into a non-stick pan over a low heat, swirl the oil around to
make sure the pan is fully covered.
-Add beaten eggs to the pan, swirl to create a thin layer and cook both
sides for about 1-2 minutes.
-Transfer to a plate, once cooling down, cut into strips.
-Cook spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds, then rinse under cold
water and drain.
-Add oil into a non-stick pan over medium heat, add carrots and stir fry
until soften. Set aside.
-Repeat the same process to stir fry sliced mushrooms, red peppers, and
marinated pork belly strips. (follow the order if you can)
-Cook Korean glass noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes, then
drain and set aside.
(you can cut into noodles randomly with kitchen scissors to shorten
them)
To make the sauce for Japchae :
-Soy sauce, 4 tbsp.
-Sugar, 2 tbsp.
-Sesame oil, 3 tbsp.
-White pepper, 2 tsp.
Mix above well until sugar is dissolved.
To mix and serve :
-Mix Japchae sauce, glass noodles and all the cooked ingredients
together.
(mix all together by hand if you can, make sure the noodles has cooled down
enough before you do it by hand.)
-Sprinkle with roasted white sesame seeds.
*You can adjust Japchae sauce to taste by adding a little bit more of
soy sauce or sugar if necessary.
