Korean japchae, sweet potato starch noodles stir fried with vegetables, is a popular and delicious dish that pretty much everyone likes. I never saw someone who tasted it for the first time who didn’t like it right away. That’s a high compliment! This recipe is for a quick and easy version of japchae that takes only 10 minutes to cook but tastes just as good as the traditional way.
I posted a recipe for japchae years ago and it has been popular on my website and YouTube among millions of people. The only complaint I ever got was that it takes a long time to prepare every ingredient properly. We need to do this so the ingredients keep their flavor, texture and color when they are eventually mixed together. The result is delicious but time consuming.
But over the last few years I have been trying to find a way to make japchae quicker, altogether in one pot. I did a lot of experiments and a lot of trials. Finally I figured out a way to do it, it’s pretty simple but the order of adding the ingredients is kind of my own science. The vegetables and mushrooms go on the bottom of the pot so they don’t easily burn, and all the vegetables are covered in a light coating of cooking oil which keeps them from going brown from the seasoning sauce.
In this way I make japchae in 10 minutes all in my 6.5 quart large and heavy pot. The recipe is featured in my new cookbook. Already a lot of people have made it and tell me they love it! I always make japchae this way now, I never make it in the traditional way. It’s perfect for a family meal of 4 to 6 servings, but anything larger then that my traditional japchae recipe will be better and more manageable.
Enjoy the recipe and enjoy your time-saving japchae!
Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6
For meat (optional):
- 8 ounces’ pork belly (pork shoulder), beef, or chicken, cut into 2½-inch-long strips
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown (or white) sugar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
For gyeran-jidan egg garnish (optional):
- 2 eggs
- a pinch of kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
For seasoning sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown (or white) sugar
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
For noodles, vegetables, and mushrooms:
- 8 ounces sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon in Korean), soaked in cold water for at least for 40 minutes
- 7 or 8 dried wood ear mushrooms (mogi-beoseot), washed and soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes
- 8 ounces king oyster mushrooms (or soaked shiitake mushrooms or white button mushrooms), sliced into long strips
- 1 large onion (8 ounces), sliced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch long and ¼-inch wide matchsticks
- 8 ounces bunch spinach, washed, with the roots cut away, and the leaves cut into 4-inch pieces
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Directions
Marinate and cook meat (optional):
- Combine your choice of meat, the soy sauce, brown (or white) sugar, and toasted sesame oil in a bowl. Mix well by hand until the sugar is well melted. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Heat a skillet and cook the marinated meat, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 4 to 5 minutes until cooked thoroughly.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
Make egg garnish (optional):
- Whisk the eggs and salt in a bowl, then strain into another bowl so it’s totally smooth. Discard the stringy bits remaining in the strainer.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and swirl it around to evenly coat the skillet.
- Wipe off the excess oil with a paper towel. Turn down the heat to low and add the egg mixture to the skillet. Lift and tilt the skillet around so that the egg spreads into a large circle that covers the bottom of the skillet.
- Let it cook for a minute until the bottom of the egg pancake is lightly cooked but not brown.
- Flip the egg pancake and remove from the heat. Let it cook by the heat remaining in the skillet for a few minutes. Transfer to a cutting board.
- Let the pancake cool for a few minutes, then slice it into thin strips. Cover the strips with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.
Make seasoning sauce:
- Combine the soy sauce, brown (or white) sugar, ground black pepper, and garlic in a bowl and mix well with a spoon until the sugar is dissolved. Cover and set aside.
Put the japchae together in the pot:
- Drain the wood ear mushrooms and put them on your cutting board. Cut off the tough stems and discard them. Cut the caps into bite-size pieces and put them into the pot.
- Add the king oyster mushrooms, carrot, and onion to the pot.
- Add ¼ cup vegetable oil and ¼ cup water to the pot. Mix well everything in the pot with both hands so that all the vegetables and mushrooms are nicely coated with oil. This will not only prevent the ingredients from turning brown from the seasoning sauce, but will also keep them from burning when you cook.
- Spread the spinach over top in an even layer.
- Drain the noodles and cut them into 5- to 6-inch lengths with scissors. Place them on top of the spinach in the pot.
- Drizzle the seasoning sauce on top of the noodles.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Open the lid and stir and gently toss all the ingredients with a wooden spoon and tongs for 1 to 2 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated and the noodles are nicely cooked and shiny.
- Add the cooked meat (if using), 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Gently toss the mixture so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Transfer to a large platter.
Serve:
- Garnish with the egg paper strips (if using) and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, and serve.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. To reheat, stir-fry in a skillet with a few tablespoons water or vegetable oil.
This was absolutely delicious and very easy to make. I have done it several times with different variations.
Thank you Maangchi :D
This is a brilliant recipe. I can’t praise it enough. Delicious, one pot, and smells so good! I substituted dried shiitakes and fresh button mushrooms, then used the mushroom soaking water in the pot. I also used some shredded cabbage instead of the spinach. It turned out great, and I will be making this many times! Thank you so much!
I was introduced to Japchae last weekend at a family event. It was so delicious I had to try and make it myself. The store I went to that day didn’t carry the glass noodles nor the dried mushrooms i wanted, so I decided to attempt my own (unauthentic) variation. I used regular mushrooms boiled and thinly sliced and spaghettini (el dente) broken in thirds. The one pot method is fantastic. Although it was a cheap and cheerul substitute, it was still soooo good. I plan on picking up more authentic ingredients but was surprised that this experiment created something so delicious.
MERCI Maangchi !!!! INCROYABLE : facile, rapide et délicieux ! que demander de plus ? une vraie réussite ! ça va devenir un classique chez nous car en plus on peut utiliser tous les restes de légumes. bises de Paris. CIndy
I’ve been so excited to try this recipe, Maangchi! I went to H Mart today to get some of the ingredients, and all of the produce I got at the farmer’s market. Your instructions made it so straightforward, and I took one bite and was immediately like “woooowwwwww!!!!” It tastes amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing with us!!!
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This was so delicious and easy to make. It was our first time trying japchae. I accidentally ordered sweet potato noodles online when I placed an order with our Asian market which is an hour away. I thought I was buying shirataki noodles for hot pot. I googled what I should do with them and japchae was the answer. Other recipes did seem intimidating. Thank you for making this easy for us! I made a vegetarian version.
Because I am vegan I didn’t put need and tłok but was sooooo good
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Tried this today, it was soooo easy to do compared to the traditional way. Thanks for this recipe, it’s a keeper!
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Hi maangchi! I tried making easy japchae and here it is!
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This recipe WAS easy and a fast one-pot meal! I made a vegetarian version by skipping the meat and adding extra dried mushrooms and sliced fresh shiitake, plus lily buds and more fungi (leftovers fm making jai for the Chinese New Year). After soaking the dried items I put them all in with the carrots & onions. The directions were spot on, and everyone at the potluck was impressed.
I will say that I had to cut the noodles while I was stirring them b/c they became a big ball I couldn’t untangle. And this recipe could easily feed 4 people.
I had to cut the noodles while stirring b/c I didn’t read the recipe carefully!
Just wanna share some tips. To make a beautiful yellow gyeran jjidan, just add half teaspoon of mayonnaise for 2 eggs. The mayonnaise will help the jjidan to be bright sunny yellow in colour. Happy trying
Oh, I wish I’d read the comments before starting my japchae. It’s cooking right now, but I will remember this tip for next time; thank you! :-)
That’s the most beautiful spinach I’ve ever seen!
Maangchi-ssi,
I want to ask you a question. Dangmyeon is very long and springy and difficult to separate. Is it possible to soak them, divide them and freeze the portions?
잘 부탁드려요!
호주 아줌마
Funny – the dangmyeon I usually get are only folded once resulting them to be only about double the length of the bag they come in – unlike Chinese noodles made from mungbeans.
For the latter, I always used pliers originally intended to cut sheet metal.
I can’t cut them with pliers as my wrists are too weak. And dangmyeon are always just a little bit too long to store in a container. In any case, I’ve frozen some soaked noodles to experiment, so I’ll find out soon enough anyway.
How about broad clips to reseal the original bag?
Merry Christmas!
Hello HojuAjumma, I read that you had tried freezing some soaked noodles. I was wondering what the results were. How did you thaw them? Did they still taste ok?
I also froze some previously soaked noodles but am afraid that they may no longer be good.
Thank you for your reply.
My first time trying to make this recipe. Totally, easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing!
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I’m so happy to hear that you love this recipe. It looks so tasty! I make japchae more often ever since I developed this recipe.