Japchae
Japchae is a famous Korean noodle dish that I describe as sort of a stir fry, sort of a salad. It’s a cross between the two in my mind because stir fried vegetables are tossed with noodles and sauce in a bowl rather than on the stove, and served barely warm. You start by mixing the sauce in a giant bowl, then pile all the ingredients in one after the other – the noodles, a giant mound of cooked vegetables then lastly the seared marinated beef. Then finally, you give it a big toss to mix it all together in the bowl. This part is really satisfying, getting really stuck into it! (Just make sure you use a really big bowl else you’ll be cursing!).
Ingredients in Japchae
Here’s what you need to make Japchae. I’ve broken it up into:
The noodles & sauce
Here’s what you need for the noodles and sauce: Some notes on some of the pictured ingredients:
Japchae noodles – The noodles used in Japchae are dried sweet potato noodles called dangmyeon. They are made from sweet potato starch and are almost transparent when cooked. It’s like the Korean version of glass noodles! The packets shown above are sold at large grocery stores in the Asian aisle, though you can get them cheaper at Asian stores.Substitute with glass noodles (ie the clear vermicelli noodles). And though Korean nationals may have my head for saying this, just quietly, you can totally make this recipe with any noodles. It will still be delicious! Soy sauce – Either light or all purpose soy sauce. But not dark soy sauce – flavour is too strong and the colour is too intense! More on which soy sauce to use when here. Sesame oil – toasted sesame oil is brown and has more flavour than untoasted (which is yellow). The default sesame oil sold in Australia is toasted, untoasted is harder to find.
Beef and marinade
We’re using beef short ribs in today’s recipe. Yes, it’s an unusual option for a stir fry – but I think you’ll be really impressed. It surprised me! Substitute with glass noodles (ie the clear vermicelli noodles). And though Korean nationals may have my head for saying this, just quietly, you can totally make this recipe with any noodles. It will still be delicious!
Beef (choices!) – Beef short rib is my favourite cut to use in Japchae. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just for slow cooking! When cut off the bone then thinly sliced, the beautifully marbled meat is juicy, tender and flavourful when cooked quickly on high heat – just 90 seconds. (If using beef short ribs whole, however, they must be slow cooked to break down the tough fibres. Try this, this, this or this recipe).It really is so much nicer to have the beef bits extra tender and juicy in a noodle dish that is not as saucy as your everyday Chinese Beef Stir Fry. So I really hope you give beef ribs a go! I honestly think it’s better than even pricier steaks like scotch / rib-eye.Other options – Scotch fillet/boneless rib eye is best, as it is the juiciest. If using other steak cuts like rump, porterhouse/t-bone, sirloin/strip etc (especially if economical), I recommend tenderising them before using in the recipe so the beef pieces are extra tender (directions in recipe card). Thin strips of beef are difficult to keep juicy as they overcook in a microsecond. As mentioned above, you can get away with that in saucy Beef Stir Fries. Not so much in noodle dishes. Soy sauce – As above!
Vegetables
The vegetables shown below is a fairly common combination for Japchae, with a lovely contrast of colour, textures and flavour. But you can really use any stir-fry-able vegetables you want. It really is so much nicer to have the beef bits extra tender and juicy in a noodle dish that is not as saucy as your everyday Chinese Beef Stir Fry. So I really hope you give beef ribs a go! I honestly think it’s better than even pricier steaks like scotch / rib-eye. Other options – Scotch fillet/boneless rib eye is best, as it is the juiciest. If using other steak cuts like rump, porterhouse/t-bone, sirloin/strip etc (especially if economical), I recommend tenderising them before using in the recipe so the beef pieces are extra tender (directions in recipe card). Thin strips of beef are difficult to keep juicy as they overcook in a microsecond. As mentioned above, you can get away with that in saucy Beef Stir Fries. Not so much in noodle dishes. Just a note on a few of the vegetables:
Shiitake mushrooms – These are Asian mushrooms with a more intense mushroomy flavour than standard white mushrooms, brown/cremini mushrooms etc. However, if you can’t find them or they are a bit pricey, feel free to use ordinary mushrooms. They are, as you’d expect, better value in Asian stores. Baby spinach – Substitute with chopped English spinach, the leafy part of Asian greens or even kale. She ducks as Koreans start throwing rotten tomatoes at her
How to make Japchae (semi-traditional way)
Traditional Japchae recipes call for each vegetable to be cooked individually to factor in the different cook times and preserve the flavour of each. Yes, it’s cumbersome (you count 6 vegetables above!). But if you jumble them all up into one giant stir fry then the flavours do tend to bleed into each other a bit. So I’ve compromised and cooked the vegetables in 2 lots, bundling vegetables together by factoring in cook times and flavour “bleeding” to best replicate the same result where vegetables are cooked individually. Bonus: We use less oil. I hope my slight short-cut method doesn’t offend Korean nationals! 😇
Cutting beef short ribs
As noted above, I really think the best beef for Japchae is beef short ribs – juiciest, best flavour. It’s typically sold on the bone (off the bone is not common here in Australia), so here is how to slice the meat. If you are using a boneless steak instead, or boneless beef short ribs, then you obviously don’t need to cut the meat off the bone!
Cooking Japchae
YUM. That sauce is everything! I really like that it’s not as sweet as the Japchae sauce you get at some Korean restaurants which I find a little too sweet. Toss, toss, toss, until the sauce is evenly distributed. Check by looking at the colour of the noodles – the sauce stains the glassy noodles a brown colour. Then tumble it all into a bowl, finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and serve! This is a big batch recipe so it’s an excellent one for taking leftovers to work. It will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Just lightly warm it – or serve hot if you want. Though honestly, it’s also very good at room temperature too! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Life of Dozer
I can feel him heavy breathing on my feet. 🙄 Also, don’t miss Dozer’s cameo in today’s recipe video – at 0:36!
