Korean Japchae (stir-fried sweet potato noodles)

If you have to choose between all types of carbs (bread, potatoes, rice, noodles, pasta), which one is your favorite? Mine is definitely noodles. How about combining this with my other favorite ingredient, the sweet potato.

Let me tell you, that’s a match made in heaven! At least my food heaven. The Korean Japchae is a famous stir-fried noodle dish made of sweet potato starch noodles. I make this meal whenever I’m longing for something healthy, yet comforting and tasty.

This one-pot meal wonder is filled with healthy colorful vegetables,  mushrooms, and chewy sweet potato noodles. The best part is that you just throw all the ingredients in one pan and you’ll soon feel you’re part of a Korean Drama series.

Pair it with some spicy tangy kimchi and you will find yourself in Korean heaven. This whole thing is like a delicious Italian pasta, but then the Korean and gluten-free version. Yes, Japchae is made from sweet potato noodles. This is the best news ever because I just love a cozy, comforting plate full of luscious long chewy noodles. What can I say, just follow the recipe and dig in this healthy Korean Jap Chae!

Korean Jap Chae

Make 4 big servings

• 300-gram Korean sweet potato starch noodles (Dang Myun)
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 red paprika, finely sliced
• 3 scallions/spring onions, 5 cm long
• 5 shiitake Japanese mushrooms, finely sliced
• 1 pack of shimeji, ends trimmed
• 3 pieces of black wood ear mushroom, thinly sliced
• a handful of spinach
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, omelet style (optional)
• 2 tbsp pure sesame oil
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Direction

They say that good luck is a residue of preparation. Well, with this dish it’s all about good preparation which means a lot of cutting.

1. First, set a large pan with water on high heat, once it boils cook the noodles for about 2-3 minutes so that it’s soft, not overdone but still chewy. In the meantime start cutting all the ingredients.
2. Cut carrots julienned and the paprika very thin.
3. Wash and cut shiitake and wood ear mushroom in thin slices. Shimeji mushroom has to be trimmed on the ends and set the mushroom mixture aside in a bowl.
4. Cut spring onions into 5 cm long, slice the onion and garlic finely and set aside.
5. When noodles are cooked, drain the water and put the noodles in a large bowl to cool down. No need to rinse with cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce through the noodles, to avoid stickiness and to add flavor.
6. Crack the eggs in a mixing bowl and make a thin omelet in a skillet.
7. Transfer to a plate, roll the omelet like a crepe and cut thin slices.
8. Use a medium to large-sized skillet to wok the rest of the ingredients one by one or mixed together.
9. Start with the onions and garlic, carrots, spinach, paprika and mushrooms.
10. Season with 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon palm sugar.
11. Add more soy and sesame sauce according to your taste.
12. You can also garnish the noodles with the omelet and toasted sesame seeds.
13. Serve the Japchae with kimchi and you are the happiest person on the planet!