Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

I started eating Korean food only after moving to California and love it ever since. I like the BBQ and most of the side dishes offered in Korean restaurants. This noodle is one of my favorite dishes that I've tried. Few years back when I was a little obsessed with Korean food, I started looking for Korean recipes online and found this Maangchi's website which I absolutely love. I've tried many of her dishes and love them all.

This noodle is a must have for us whenever we do Korean BBQ. Since I always pair it with Korean BBQ, I just take some of the marinated meat from BBQ, slice it thin and use it for this dish.

Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

Serves: 4 as a meal or 8 as a side dish
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
12 ounces Korean starch noodles (Dangmyun)
1 bunch spinach (about 1 pound) – cut off the roots
1 medium carrot – cut into matchstick size pieces (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion – sliced into 1/8 inch thick slices (about 1 cup)
1 packet of white button mushrooms – thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
8 green onions – cut into 3 inch length pieces
5 ounces (approx. 1/3 lb) beef – thinly sliced
5 dried shitake mushrooms – soaked in warm water for 30 minutes or until soften, squeeze out water and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic – pressed or finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy sauce (adjust to taste)
3 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 1/2 tablespoon sugar (adjust to taste)
Black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
5 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil for cooking the vegetables

Directions:

1. Boil the noodles per package instruction till tender, drain and place it in a large bowl. Cut it up several times using scissors and season it with 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Mix well and keep aside.
2. Place spinach in a pot of boiling water and cook just until wilted, for about half a minute. Drain and rinse under cold water few times, removing any grit or dead leaves along the way. (You can use the same water for boiling noodles to cook the spinach). Squeeze out excess water and cut into about 2 inch pieces. Season it with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, mix and place it in the noodle bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add a splash (about 1 tsp) of olive/vegetable oil and stir fry the carrots for about half a minute and transfer them to the noodle bowl.
4. Heat the same skillet with a splash more of oil and stir fry the onions until translucent and transfer to the noodle bowl.
5. Do the same with white mushrooms, stir frying them until lightly golden and transfer to the noodle bowl.
6. Repeat again with green onions and cook for about a minute and transfer to the noodle bowl.
7. Heat the same skillet again with a splash more oil and add beef, shitake mushrooms and stir fry for few minutes until the meat is cooked through. Add garlic, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, stir well and cook for about half a minute more and transfer to the noodle bowl.
8. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil, black pepper to the noodle bowl. Mix everything up very well and adjust according to taste. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Note:

• Precut all the vegetables before stir frying so that you can cook continuously while stir frying.
• Keep the heat to maximum and make sure the skillet is well heated while stir frying the vegetables.

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