The BEST Japchae Recipe (Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry) | 잡채 — ahnest kitchen (2024)

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Japchae (Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry) | 잡채

Korean glass noodles with stir fried vegetables and Korean seasoning. Mother's special recipe- everyone says she makes the BEST japchae!

Summarized List (Refer to Instructions for exact seasoning measurements)

• 260g Korean sweet potato starch noodles / glass noodles (We use Wang Korea Noodle brand or Ottogi... important see notes)*
• 0.5 lb Beef Flap Steak (any steak is fine, just make sure it's thinly cut)
• 1 large bunch Korean spinach, with stems attached (regular spinach is fine, NO baby spinach or packaged spinach) (285g)
• 2 oyster mushrooms (about 1 package of regular mushrooms) (150g or 2 cups chopped)
• 2 large carrots (300g)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 brown onion
• Garlic, minced
• Soy Sauce (We use regular Kikkoman)
• Sesame Oil
• Pink Salt
• Sugar
• Black Pepper
• Dasida Beef Stock Powder (We use CJ Dasida)
• Sesame Seeds, roasted

Marinade Beef

1. Trim off excess fat on beed. Cut beef into bite size pieces (size of a chicken nugget for a lack of better words).
2. In a small bowl, add the beef and the following marinade ingredients: 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 Tbsp white sugar, 1/2 Tbsp garlic (minced), and black pepper.
3. Mix, cover, and refrigerate.

Blanch Spinach

1. Wash 1 bunch of large spinach (285g). Do NOT cut off stems. Set aside in a strainer.
2. Blanch spinach: In a large pot, add water halfway through (there needs to be enough space to blanch spinach). Add 1 tsp of pink salt. Heat on medium high to high heat. Let water come to boil. Prepare a separate large bowl with cold water.
3. Once water is boiling, blanch spinach: Use a tong to grab a handful of spinach and submerge in boiling water, swirling it around just until the spinach transforms into a rich, deep green (about 15 seconds). Immediately submerge spinach into cold water, then run it under cold water, set aside in strainer. Repeat until all spinach is blanched and ran under cold water. Do not discard boiling water- leave it on the stove, to blanch next vegetable.
4. Let the spinach sit in the strainer for 10 min. Then, grab blanched spinach by the handful and squeeze by the fist until no liquids drip out of your palm (don't over squeeze). Repeat until all spinach is squeezed and refrigerate in an airtight container.
5. This ended up being 108g or 1 & 1/2 cup of blanched spinach.

Blanch Mushrooms

1. Wash 2 oyster mushrooms (150g) and cut into strips (2-3 inches, 1cm thick). If using regular mushrooms, cut as regular but make sure there's some thickness to your cut mushrooms (about 1cm thick).
2. Blanch mushrooms in the same boiling water and pot we used for spinach (about 40 seconds per blanch). Set aside in a strainer.
3. Run blanched mushrooms under cold water. Then, grab mushrooms by the handful and squeeze by the fist until no liquids drip out of your palm (don't over squeeze). Repeat until all mushrooms are squeezed and set aside in a large mixing bowl. This ended up being 95g or 1 cup of cooked mushroom.

Sauté Carrots

1. Wash, peel skin off, and slice 2 large carrots (300g) into thin strips (2-3 inches tall, 0.5cm thick).
2. Heat a large pot (you can use the same one we boiled water in, just empty it out) with a good amount of oil to sauté carrots. Once oil is heated, add all sliced carrots into the pot. Drizzle more oil to coat all carrots. Sauté carrots by occasionally mixing it around, and add more oil when dry (all carrots should be oiled).
3. Once carrots loosen up, season with a salt, sugar, black pepper, and 1/4 tsp of dasida. No need to season too much, as we will season all ingredients at the end.
4. Continue to sauté until carrot is cooked through, but make sure it has some crunch to it (don't overcook that it becomes flimsy). Set aside in a large mixing bowl. This ended up being 200g or 1 & 3/4 cup of cooked carrots.

Sauté Bell Pepper

1. Wash and slice 1 bell pepper into strips.
2. Like the carrots, heat large pot with oil and sauté bell pepper strips. Once it loosens up, season by sprinkling in some salt, sugar, and black pepper. Add more oil if needed. Continue to cook until bell pepper is cooked through but do NOT overcook (it should have a crunch to it). Set aside in a large mixing bowl. This ended up being 142g or 1 cup of cooked bell pepper.

Sauté Onion

1. Like the bell peppers, cut 1 brown onion into strips. Heat large pot with oil and sauté onion strips. Once it loosens up, season by sprinkling in some salt, sugar, and black pepper. No need to season too much, as we will season all ingredients at the end. Add more oil if needed.
2. Continue to cook until bell pepper is cooked through but do NOT overcook (it should have a crunch to it). Set aside in a large mixing bowl. This ended up being 184g or 1 & 3/4 cup of cooked bell pepper.

Sauté Mushrooms

1. In the same large pot, add oil and sauté blanched mushrooms. Once it loosens up, season by sprinkling in some salt, sugar, and black pepper. No need to season too much, as we will season all ingredients at the end. Add more oil if needed.
2. Continue to cook until mushroom is cooked through but do NOT overcook (it should have a crunch to it). Set aside in a large mixing bowl.

Cook Beef + More Seasoning

1. In the same large pot, heat some oil and cook beef. Season beef with 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp white sugar, and 1/2 tsp dasida (beef stock powder).
2. If excess liquid forms, absorb with a paper towel. Once fully cooked, set aside in a large mixing bowl. We'll still be using the pot later to cook the noodles, so keep the beef oils in there and leave as is.

Season Spinach

1. Take out blanched spinach out of the fridge. Snip spinach into smaller pieces (3in long).
2. In a small mixing bowl, season spinach with 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1/8 tsp dasida (beef stock powder). Mix gently and thoroughly. Set aside in a large mixing bowl. Give the mixing bowl with all the vegetables and meat a quick mix.

Cook Noodles

1. We are going to boil the noodles now. In the same pot we cooked the beef in, there should be beef oils at the bottom of the pot. To that pot, add in enough water to cook noodles (we need oil in the water because it prevents the noodles from sticking). If you want to use a fresh new pot, then add a drizzle of oil to the water.
2. Boil over high heat. Once it is boiling, submerge the noodles into the water. Turn OFF the heat and cover pot with lid. Set a timer for 6 minutes. Watch the timer closely! - You really have to prevent overcooking these noodles!
3. After 6 minutes, taste test the noodles. It should NOT be al dente. It should be chewy and not overcooked. If al dente, cook for another 1 minute with the lid on top, and check again.
4. Remove noodles and strain. Do NOT run it under water. Add it a medium bowl (we need to season the noodles separately on its own).

Season Noodles

1. Add the following to seasoning to noodles: 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp white sugar, and 2 Tbsp sesame oil.
2. Gently mix with hands, be careful it's hot! (tip: use disposable food gloves). Add noodles to large bowl with all the vegetables.

FINAL STEP: Season to make Japchae

1. Mix noodles with vegetables so that everything is well mixed together. Then, add the following seasoning: 1 Tbsp soy sauce , 1 Tbsp white sugar, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, roasted, 1 tsp Dasida Beef Stock Powder, 1/2 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt, and Black Pepper.
2. Gently mix with hands (tip: use disposable food gloves). Give it a taste, and adjust as needed. It will taste a bit salty but once the japchae sits for 30 minutes, all those flavors will fuse together and be less salty.

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Fill large pot with water (halfway)

Blanch spinach (about 15 sec)

Immediately place in cold water

Tip: have cold water bowl nearby

After blanching, immediately run under cold water

Strain

Squeeze out liquids

Blanch mushroom strips (about 40 sec)

Strain then squeeze out liquids

Submerge in boiling water then TURN OFF

Cover with lid for 6 minutes

Uncooked noodles

Cooked Noodles

Seasoned vegetables

Add more seasoning to vegetables all together

Gently mix

Serve!