Japchae
Glassy sweet potato noodles that bounce off your teeth and refuse to stay on chopsticks. Chewy, sweet-savoury, and somehow just as good cold from the fridge at midnight.
- Total time
- 18 min
- Serves
- 3
- Effort
- Medium
What you need
Written for 3 — nudge the counter and the numbers follow.
0 of 10 in the basket.
How you make it
Boil the dangmyeon in plenty of water for 6 minutes until fully translucent and springy, then drain, rinse briefly and snip a few times with scissors.
Toss the hot drained noodles with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp sesame oil so they season from the inside and stop sticking.
Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds, refresh under cold water, squeeze dry hard and pull the clump apart.
Stir-fry the onion, carrot and mushrooms in a hot oiled pan for 3 minutes until softened but still with some bite, then tip into the noodle bowl.
Stir-fry the beef strips over high heat for 3 minutes until browned all over and cooked through with no pink remaining.
Combine everything with the spinach, remaining soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and sesame seeds, and toss with your hands until every strand is glossy and evenly coloured.
Read all that and thought “absolutely not”?
Completely fair. Japchae is sitting in the Korean kitchen right now, it costs nothing, and it will never arrive.
Order it insteadMore from the Korean kitchen
Chewy, fiery and built for sharing at 1am.