Mom's Japchae Recipe. It's always interesting to see classic dishes made in a different way. My mom - as you probably know is in Seoul now - and she wanted to share a simpler way of making Korean Japchae. All it takes is 20 minutes for amazing homecooked flavor. In this recipe, she skips many of the prep steps that eat up alot of time. I'm amazed by her depth of knowledge with Korean cooking! If you've crave Japchae noodles from time-to-time, but are wary about the time it takes - try out this simple recipe!
The best part about this recipe is that you don't have to soak your Dangmyeon noodles in water. Normally, this pre-soaking takes a few hours. But we've found that if you hard-boil the noodles for exactly 8 minutes - the result is the same! The noodles turn soft while retaining its chewy and bouncy texture.
A few cooking notes:
- After boiling the noodles, do NOT rinse it under cold water. Simply set it aside and let it drip-off by itself. This way, the noodle dehydrates and easily soaks up the soy sauce and sesame oil in later steps.
- Stir-fry all the vegetables on LOW heat. We don't want to burn or char the vegetables. Be patient and stir-fry until soft - especially with the onions and carrots.
- Don't forget to add-in the rest of the minced garlic when flavoring the noodles in the final step!
Note: We purposely didn't add any meat to this Japchae recipe. But feel free to julienne pieces of beef and pork and add it to yours.
Bon Appetit Neighbors! Dan-yul & Momma Signing Out!! 🕺👩🏻🦳
Ingredients
- 200 grams of Dangmyeon Noodles
Stir-fried Carrot
- ½ a whole Carrot
- 1 Whole Onion
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 2-3 pinches of Salt (for
Stir-fried Mushroom
- 5-6 Whole Shiitake Mushrooms
- 1-2 Handfuls Oyster Mushrooms (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 2-3 pinches of Salt
Stir-fried Spinach
- 3 big handfuls Spinach
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 2-3 pinches of Salt
- 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
Noodle Seasoning
- 5 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1.5 Tablespoon of Minced Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
Instructions
Boil Noodles
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Grab a big handful of Dangmyeon Noodles (as much as you can hold in one hand - that should be roughly 200 grams). Place it into the boiling water for 8 minutes. Afterwards, drain the noodles through a strainer and let it drip off any excess water. (Note: Do NOT wash the noodles under cold water!). Simply set it aside for later.
Prep veggies
- Julienne ½ of a whole carrot into thin slices. Then chop 5-6 Shiitake Mushrooms into thin slices. Dice 1 whole onion into slices as well. Finally, clean and separate a handful of oyster mushrooms as well (optional).
- Next, we'll mince about 6-8 cloves of garlic - we want to have 2 Tablespoons of Minced Garlic for the recipe. Set this aside for later.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop in 1 teaspoon of salt. Once the water is boiling, place in 3 large handfuls of spinach. Blanche the spinach for about 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, immediately drain the water and cool it down in cold water. Afterwards, use your hands and squeeze the water out of the spinach. Give the ball of spinach a few good squeezes - we want to get as much water out as possible.
Stir-fry veggies
- Carrot & Onion: Place a large frying pan on medium heat. Once it feels hot, reduce the frying pan to a LOW heat - we will cook on a low heat to prevent the veggies from burning or charring. Add-in Sesame Oil (1 teaspoon). Place-in the julienned Carrots and Onions. Season it with a few shakes of salt. Then stir-fry the veggies around for 4-5 minutes (be patient - as we want the carrot and onions to turn soft and translucent). Set it aside. Clean out the frying pan with a paper towel.
- Mushrooms: Keep the frying pan on low heat. Drop in some Sesame Oil (1 teaspoon) into the frying pan. Then add-in the mushroom slices. Season it with a few shakes of salt. Stir-fry it around for a few minutes. You will start to hear the mushrooms sizzle loud - that's the mushrooms releasing their moisture into the pan. Continue stirring them around until they turn very soft.
- Spinach: Keep the frying pan on low heat. Drop in some sesame oil (1 teaspoon) into the frying pan. Before adding them to the frying pan, give the spinach one extra squeeze - to make sure all of the water is out. Then add it to the frying pan. De-tangle them with your hands. Then season it with a few shakes of salt. Also add-in 1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Stir-fry everything around for 1-2 minutes. Then set it aside.
Make Japchae Noodles
- Place the cooked noodles in a large wok or mixing bowl. (No heat is needed - just a large mixing space). Then place in the Soy Sauce (5 Tablespoons) and Sesame Oil (1 Tablespoon). Place on some kitchen gloves and mix it together - make sure to get the noodles rehydrated. Now, add in some Honey (1 Tablespoon). Mix it again.
- Now add in all of the sautéed vegetables. As well as the remaining minced garlic (~1.5 Tablespoons). Be gentle and give everything a good mix. Garnish with Sesame Seeds (1 Tablespoon)
Nom Nom. Tried the recipe today. So easy, I added beef also as my mixed Chinese/Korean family are meat monster. It was so delicious and easy!!! I would have love to tag a pictures here if possible.
The only comment I have is that I can’t get over how beautiful your mother is. Now I am looking for videos with your mother in them .
I've tried several japchae recipes but was never quite satisfied until I found this one! So simple and delicious. I also added marinated beef 🙂 Thanks for sharing.