Japchae, sweet potato starch noodles stir fried with vegetables and meat, is one of Korea’s best-loved dishes, and one of the most popular on my website as well.
If anyone asks me to recommend a good potluck dish, I don’t hesitate to answer japchae for the simple reason that pretty much everyone loves it. At any gathering it’s hard to pass up these chewy, sweet, and slightly slippery noodles with colorful stir-fried vegetables and mushrooms, its irresistible sesame flavor, healthy amount of garlic, and light, refreshing taste.
Stir frying each ingredient separately seems like a lot of labor, but each one requires a different cooking time and a bit of care, and keeping the color and freshness of each ingredient intact makes for a stunning final presentation. An easy way to make it even prettier and more nutritious is to use more vegetables and less noodles, although this is hard to recommend because the noodles are delicious by themselves.
Let me know if you make this at a party! Double, triple, quadruple the ingredients and let everyone taste your japchae!
Ingredients
(serves 4):
- 4 ounces beef, filet mignon (or pork shoulder), cut into ¼ inch wide and 2½ inch long strips
- 2 large dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 2 to 3 hours, cut into thin strips
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 large egg
- 4 ounces spinach, washed and drained
- 4 ounces of dangmyeon (sweet potato starch noodles)
- 2 to 3 green onions, cut crosswise into 2 inch long pieces
- 1 medium onion (1 cup), sliced thinly
- 4 to 5 white mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 1 medium carrot (¾ cup), cut into matchsticks
- ½ red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (optional)
- ground black pepper
- salt
- vegetable oil
Directions
Marinate the beef and mushrooms
- Put the beef and shiitake mushrooms into a bowl and mix with 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil with a wooden spoon or by hand. Cover and keep it in the fridge.
Make the egg garnish (jidan):
- Crack the egg and separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Remove the white stringy stuff (chalaza) from the yolk. Beat in a pinch of salt with a fork.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to a heated nonstick pan. Swirl the oil around so it covers the pan, and then wipe off the excess heated oil with a kitchen towel so only a thin layer remains on the pan.
- To keep the jidan as yellow as possible, turn off the heat and pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan. Tilt it around so the mixture spreads thinly. Let it cook using the remaining heat in the pan for about 1 minute. Flip it over and let it sit on the pan for 1 more minute.
- Let it cool and slice it into thin strips.
Prepare the noodles and vegetables:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and blanch for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then take it out with a slotted spoon or strainer. Let the water keep boiling to cook the noodles.
- Rinse the spinach in cold water to stop it from cooking. Squeeze it with your hands to remove any excess water. Cut it a few times and put it into a bowl. Mix with 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Put it into a large mixing bowl.
- Put the noodles into the boiling water, cover and cook for 1 minute. Stir them with a wooden spoon so they don’t stick together. Cover and keep cooking for another 7 minutes until the noodles are soft and chewy.
- Strain and cut them a few times with kitchen scissors. Put the noodles into the large bowl next to the spinach. Add 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix well by hand or a wooden spoon. This process will season the noodles and also keep the noodles from sticking to each other.
- Heat up a skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil with the onion, the green onion, and a pinch of salt. Stir-fry about 2 minutes until the onion looks a little translucent. Transfer to the noodle bowl.
- Heat up the skillet again and add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add the white mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 2 minutes until softened and a little juicy. Transfer to the noodle bowl.
- Heat up the skillet and add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Add the carrot and stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add the red bell pepper strips and stir-fry another 20 seconds. Transfer to the noodle bowl.
- Heat up the skillet and add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add the beef and mushroom mixture and stir fry for a few minutes until the beef is no longer pink and the mushrooms are softened and shiny. Transfer to the noodle bowl.
Mix and serve:
- Add 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil to the mixing bowl full of ingredients. Mix all together by hand.
- Add the egg garnish and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Mix it and transfer it to a large plate and serve.
Posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2007 at 8:42 pm.
Last updated on November 29, 2014.
Tagged: authentic japchae recipe, chopchae, clear noodles stir-fried with vegetables, how to make japchae, 잡채, japchae, jobchae, Korean cooking, Korean cooking website, Korean cuisine, korean food, Korean food blog, Korean food images, Korean food photos, Korean kitchen, korean noodle dish, Korean recipes, Korean stir-fried sweet potato noodles, Maangchi, Maangchi's recipes, stir fried noodles, stir fried vegetables, stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables, stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables and meat, sweet potato starch noodles
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I made this for a big gathering at my little brothers’ school and the parents and kids alike loved this so much. I made three times the amount of what it says and it just disappeared. I loved it and so did everyone there, some parents even asked me how I made it.
Yes, Japchae is popular with everyone and especially at a potluck party, because it’s not spicy, and it’s savory and mild.
This looks delicious! But I can’t find these kind of noodles in my country. Can I use clear rice noodles instead? Or will that change it?
Thanks! Love your recipes!
Thank you for this recipe Maangchi! I made it for my family a couple of days ago and everyone loved it, they even went for seconds. I wish I got a better photo of it, but what can you do? :) Keep up the amazing work!
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I really love this recipe!! I made it today and it was sososo delicious. I love your recipes thanks maangchi :)
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Wow it looks so bright and colorful! The noodles are translucent! Yum!
Thanks maangchi
Hi Maangchi this is my raw vegan version of your Japchae recipe, I used Kelp noodles soaked in baking soda lemon juice for the chewy noodles, yum, and I marinated the vegetables for a couple hours instead of stir fry them and of course I used more veggies instead of meat. I did however use tofu marinated in tamari and Indian black salt instead of egg. It was so yummy and very reminiscent of your cooked version. Thank you so much for your recipes.
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You must be so good at cooking! Very colorful and I’d like to taste the noodles.
Hi I want to ask about the soy sauce. Is it light or dark soy sauce? I can’t wait to ask my mom cook it :3
Thanks for the recipe the noodles came out delicious .
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First time making japchae and it turned out well! The only problem is that my noodles don’t have any chew to them. Instead of being chewy they just break when biting into them. I’m using potato starch noodles, so I’m assuming it’s something about the way I cooked them. Maybe over cooked?
Yes, it sounds like they are overcooked.
I think I over-ate on this. Best japchae I’ve had! Thank you for sharing your recipes. They’re so easy to make especially for beginners like me.
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i made this using your recipe but for the meat i used chicken.
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It looks amazing!
It was so nice and colorful! Thank you Maangchiii!!!
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It looks perfect! Delicious!
Hi! I am really excited about this recipe, but I was wondering if you could substitute the garlic, onions, and mushrooms each for something else. I have IBS and I can’t eat those things. Thank you so much for your recipes by the way, you brighten my day!<3
Here are tips for replacements for the onion and garlic https://calmbellykitchen.com/blog/fodmap-guide-to-flavor-without-onion-and-garlic
And here they talk about IBS sufferers replacing mushrooms with a different type of mushroom that is safe. https://alittlebityummy.com/fodmap-guide-to-mushrooms/
Hope this helps a bit. Have IBS too and know all to well how some foods can leave you totally miserable.
Second time I made Japchae, but this time with REAL Dangmyeon 당면 . It now has become one of my favorites! Kam sa ham ni da, Maangchi!
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It looks colorful and wonderful! : )
Love this recipe so much! Thank you
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Hi I want to make this for tomorrow lunch. Can I do it tonight and reheat in the microwave?
Hi Rachele,
First of all, I don´t recommend a microwave, as it destroys all the vitamins of the veggies (and the meat).
My advice: prepare and cook all the ingredients, except for the noodles. Keep them in the fridge over night. For lunch, cook the Dangmyeon, mix them in a wok (or deep skillet) with the ingredients, and heat them up.
When cooking, I always make a big batch of everything, have a nice meal, and keep the rest in the freezer for another occasion. So only thing I have to do, is let it thaw, cook noodles or rice or whatever, heat up the ingredients, and lunch or dinner is done. Saves time and energy.