Japchae! (glass potato noodles sauteed with vegetables)

Greenpoint Food Market was a success!! Considering it was our first market, I would say it was quite successful. Please spread the word!

The funny part was that the noodles we were providing with the kimchi was a hit! Therefore, I’ve decided to post the recipe on our blog. The noodle dish is called “japchae” in Korean and it’s easy to make. And really…it’s up to you what veggies you’d like to put in and if you’d like to include a type of meat, usually beef. Another common inquiry was about what mushrooms were used in the dish. There were two kinds of mushrooms used- shiitake mushrooms and dried wood ear mushrooms.

Ingredients:

1/2lb sweet potato noodles (dangmyun)
2tbsp sesame oil
1/3 head of cabbage (red cabbage can be used as well for color)
1 small to med sized onion- thinly sliced in strips
1 carrot- julienned
3/4 large red pepper- thinly sliced
3/4 large green pepper- thinly sliced
3-4 shiitake mushrooms- stems cut, thinly sliced
5-6 dried wood ear mushrooms (cut in half, if you’d like)- soaked in cold water for about 1-2 hrs (leave aside)
2-3 cloves of garlic- minced
1/2 bunch watercress (some ingredients call for spinach, but I found spinach causes the taste of the dish to be a little too bitter. Watercress is a very tasty substitute.)
2-3 scallions cut into one-inch strips
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
salt & pepper to taste

makes 4-5 servings

preparation:

1. In large saucepan, bring water to a boil then cook noodles for about 5 mins. Drain, then rinse in cold water. Set aside.

2. Now, for the vegetables- if you want more of a smoky flavor, it’s best to saute the vegetables separately, then put aside until it all comes together. Otherwise, it’s alright to saute them together.
First, heat up the sesame oil (add more sesame oil as needed along the way) in a wok or large saute pan, add carrots and onion. Saute until the onions are translucent (place onions and carrots aside on a plate). Place chopped up cabbage in the pan and stir for about 3 minutes or until they are wilted (place cooked cabbage aside).  Place red and green pepper to pan and saute until they soften (place cooked pepper aside). Add shiitake mushrooms and garlic to the pan and saute for another 3-4 mins.

Finally, saute the watercress and scallions, just so the watercress is wilted.

3. In the final step, bring the vegetables together in the saute pan and mix. Add the wood ear mushrooms and stir for about a minute. Add the drained noodles, soy sauce, sugar salt and pepper to the sauté pan and stir to low heat. Adjust seasoning to taste.

4. Serve on dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds for garnish.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Also, I’d like to know how your japchae came out. Please share!