Japchae, Korean Sweet Potato Starch Noodles

I like to add wood ear mushroom. Jelly-like and crunchy!

I like those little dishes served along with the meal at Korean restaurants. They are usually free of charge and served without you asking for them. They are called banchan. One such dish is japchae, and it's made of sweet potato starch noodles. The noodles are fatter than mung bean thread noodles and have more elasticity. 

Korean sweet potato starch noodles

This is how they look after cooking for 10 minutes.

Gojujan paste. It's red but not so spicy.

Sautéed vegetables or meats of your choice

Dried wood ear mushroom. Reconstitute them in water before use.

Japchae

100g dry sweet potato starch noodles
1/2 green bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup mushroom, I used shiitake and oyster mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/4 cup wood ear mushroom, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp gojujan paste
2 Tbsp sushi vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp canola oil for stir fry
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
Salt and pepper

Mix them all up in a big bowl.

Cook noodles according to the package instruction. Rinse and drain. In a bowl, toss the noodles, gojugan paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil and coat the noodles well. In a skillet, heat canola oil and stir-fry the cut vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste. Cool down the stir-fried vegetables and add to the bowl of noodles as well as sesame seeds. There is a version without gojujan, but I like it better with it. 



Click if you like this post