When I was at the Korean food festival a few weeks ago I got to watch a demonstration on how to make japchae which was a nice reminder that japchae has been on my to try list for a while. Japchae (or jabchae or chapchae) is a Korean stir fried pasta dish made with dangmyeon, a cellophane noodle made with sweet potato starch. In addition to the noodles, japchae includes various vegetables and it is seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds and chili peppers. For my japchae, I went with a pretty standard list of ingredients including spinach, mushrooms and a carrot and with asparagus is season I could not resist adding some to the mix! I used a variety of more exotic mushrooms including enoki, shiitake and oyster mushrooms.
Japchae is pretty easy to make and it helps if you have everything chopped and ready to go before you start. One thing that you will want to do is to make sure that you cut the noodles after they are cooked as they are very long. Unless of course you really enjoy slurping. :) The asparagus and mushroom japchae turned out really well! The dangmyeon noodles had a soft, almost jelly like texture that I quite enjoyed and I certainly like their glass like appearance. The sweet and salty flavour combination of the mirin and soy sauce worked really well together and the sesame flavour rounded everything out and gave the dish an intoxicating aroma. I am definitely looking forward to using these sweet potato noodles more.
Asparagus and Mushroom Japchae
(makes 4 servings)Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound dangmyeon (Korean cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound mushrooms, I used a mixture of shiitake, enoki and oyster mushrooms (trimmed and cleaned)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 green onions (sliced)
1 red chili pepper or chili pepper sauce to taste (sliced thinly)
1 carrot (julienned)
1 pound thin asparagus (trimmed, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups spinach (packed)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)
1 pound dangmyeon (Korean cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound mushrooms, I used a mixture of shiitake, enoki and oyster mushrooms (trimmed and cleaned)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 green onions (sliced)
1 red chili pepper or chili pepper sauce to taste (sliced thinly)
1 carrot (julienned)
1 pound thin asparagus (trimmed, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups spinach (packed)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)
Directions:
1. Boil the noodles for 5 minutes in a large pot of water, drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Cut the noodles into manageable lengths and toss in the sesame oil to prevent them from sticking.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 7-10 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and green onions and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
6. Add the carrot and asparagus and cook until tender, about 2-4 minutes.
7. Add the noodles, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil and cook for a few minutes.
8. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts.
9. Taste test and season appropriately with soy sauce for extra saltiness or mirin for extra sweetness.
10. Remove from heat and serve garnished with the sesame seeds
1. Boil the noodles for 5 minutes in a large pot of water, drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Cut the noodles into manageable lengths and toss in the sesame oil to prevent them from sticking.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 7-10 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and green onions and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
6. Add the carrot and asparagus and cook until tender, about 2-4 minutes.
7. Add the noodles, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil and cook for a few minutes.
8. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts.
9. Taste test and season appropriately with soy sauce for extra saltiness or mirin for extra sweetness.
10. Remove from heat and serve garnished with the sesame seeds
Similar Recipes:
Bibim Guksu (Soba and Kimchi Salad)
Bibimbap
Penne with Asparagus and Mushrooms in a Gorgonzola Sauce
Thai Peanut Pork Noodle Saute
Take a look at the Presto Pasta Nights roundup on From Kirsten's Kitchen to Yours.
