Japchae-Oppa! Korean-Style, Sexy Noodles, Op Op
I decided to throw a surprise birthday party for the hubby. Since it was an impromptu event, I kept it simple. Just a handful of friends on a Friday night to help him celebrate another year. The menu included his favorites, cheesecake, apple pie, and sushi from our favorite place. Badabing, easy peasy-done. Then I started to worry, what if folks don’t eat fish? Then I thought, what if I don’t have enough food? A cardinal sin…so I added a few more of his favorites, Korean short ribs, Galbi, Ceasar Salad, and Japchae, a delicious Korean noodle dish.
The Skinny on the Noods
Japchae is Wes’s favorite noodle dish. It starts with sweet potato noodles also called glass noodles (당면 Dangmyeon) for their transparency. The noodles have a bit more elasticity and bite than wheat pasta and absorb seasonings well. Season the noodles with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and sugar, which gives the noodles that characteristic delicious garlicky, sweet-salty flavor.
The beauty of this dish is its flexibility. Serve Japchae as a simple side dish, banchan, or as a main dish made with protein and vegetables. Vary the kinds of vegetables and protein, but always include shiitake mushrooms, yellow or red onions, and secret sauce (ok, not really a secret just the Korean quadfecta of soy, garlic, sugar, and sesame).
Beyond that, go CRAZY!
Add wood ears-fungi for crunch, carrots, spinach, zucchini, or watercress for veggies and chicken or beef for protein. Other additions include slices of fishcake and strips of scrambled egg. Knock yourself out.
Wes’s birthday version included chicken, carrot, zucchini, wood ear mushrooms, and spinach. Yummo.
The key to this dish is advanced prep work. Julienne vegetables, cut chicken into bite-sized strips, and make the sauce. Soak the noodles, shiitake mushrooms, and black fungus in water. The noodles should be soaked in room temp water for an hour or two, so start your prep early. You could make this a vegetarian dish by omitting the protein and marinating sliced shiitake mushrooms or pressed tofu.
My go-to recipe for Japchae is from a favorite cookbook called Hawaii’s Aloha Recipes published by The Japanese Women’s Society of Honolulu. My copy is food-stained, pages tattered, filled with handwritten notes. In short, well worn and well-used. It’s my favorite cookbook for down-home Hawaiian/Asian cooking. Wirebound with few photos, but filled with treasured family recipes and stories-books like this one were created by folks to raise money for their church, temple, or community. A reflection of who we are and the foods we have eaten for generations.
Aggie's Japchae, Oppa Korean-Style, Sexy Noodles Op Op
Ingredients
- 1 pack of glass noodles sweet potato noodles
- 1/2 pound flank steak or chicken cut into strips
- 1 cup carrots julienned
- 1 cup string beans French cut or zucchini strips
- 1/2 cup yellow onions sliced
- 6 dried shiitake mushrooms soak in hot water until soft. Squeeze excess water, remove stem and julienned
- 1/2 bunch watercress or spinach
- 1/2 cup black fungus soaked and cut into strips
- green onions
Seasoning for noodles:
- 4 T soy sauce
- 2 T sesame oil
- 1.5 T granulated sugar
- 1 T roasted sesame seeds
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Marinade for protein
- 1/2 tsp fresh garlic minced
- 2 T soy sauce
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp prepared sesame seeds
Instructions
- Soak noodles in room temp water for 1-2 hours until soft then drain. Alternatively boil for 7 minutes, drain and cool. Cut into 3-4 inch lengths. Set aside.
- Cut beef or chicken or pork into strips. MIx seasonings and combine with protein. Set this aside too.
- In a frying pan or wok, heat 1-2 T oil, add shredded carrots and fry just until tender. Don't overcook. Sprinkle with a little salt. Remove to plate.
- Follow same procedure with zucchini or string beans. Add to plate with carrots.
- In same wok, add 1 T oil and 1 tsp sesame oil, heat and add yellow onions, sir fry for approximately 1-2 minutes. Add chicken (beef), fry until half done, add mushrooms and wood ears and spinach, fry until meat is completely cooked.
- Add noodles and sauce to wok, add carrots and zucchini to pan. Mix to combine.
- Garnish with green onions and eggs.
Optional:
- Fry 1 well beaten egg in an oil pan. Tilt pan to spread egg mixture into a thin sheet. Turn once. Remove and cool. Cut egg into thin strips.
- Dish can be served warm or room temperature.