Jap Chae, A Traditional Korean Noodle Dish
Last weekend, I traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona with my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday with his family. Being a foodie and knowing most of the restaurant he enjoys, he had most of the meals planned out for the trip. He left the first night’s dinner up to me.
I wanted to have dinner with my close girlfriend and her significant other, so I let them pick a place. They asked if I would be open to Korean food. Oddly enough, even though I have lived in Los Angeles, a city with a massive variety of ethnic food, for 16 years now, other than Korean barbeque, I have never had Korean food. Shameful, right? I agreed to try it, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed.
We tried a variety of items, including a kimchi pancake, bibimbap, which is one of the most popular dishes in Korean cuisine, chicken and beef bulgogi, and a dish called jap chae.
The jap chae stuck out in my mind for a while, and when I got back to Los Angeles, I decided I wanted to recreate it. I found the original recipe at Gimme Some Oven. I modified my version to make a larger quantity and used different oils.
What is jap chae?
This dish is a traditional Korean noodle dish. It is made with glass noodles, called dangmyeon. These noodles are made from sweet potato starch and become transparent when cooked. You can also use a variety of vegetables when cooking this dish and meat, poultry or tofu is optional.
The noodles were bought from World Market, and the meat I used came from Whole Foods, because I had bought some when I was in the area. Everything else was bought at Trader Joe’s. I am certain you could find most of these ingredients at any grocery store.
The cooking directions are in the recipe section, but below is what the full dish looked like after being cooked.
One thing I learned in the creation of this dish, if you are going to use meat or poultry, you will want it to be slightly frozen to cut it so you can achieve the thin slices like the ones you see in restaurants and here. Also, make sure you buy the dry sweet potato starch noodles. I made the mistake of originally buying yam noodles at a Japanese market down the road. They were not the cellophane noodles! With the quantity below, you should get about 5-6 servings. You can eat this for a few meals during the week or share it with others.
A quick and easy take on a traditional Korean noodle dish
- 8 ounces dangmyeon sweet potato starch noodles*
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or any mild-flavored oil, divided
- 1 white onion thinly sliced
- 6 shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2 red bell peppers cored and thinly sliced
- 3 large carrots peeled and thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 4 handfuls fresh baby spinach
- toasted sesame seeds
- thin sliced green onions
- 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or more, to taste
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 pound sirloin or flank steak thinly-sliced against the grain into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- Kosher salt
- black pepper
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To Make The Noodles: Cook the sweet potato starch noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to package directions, until they are al dente. (Be careful not to overcook, or they will become mushy in the stir-fry.) Transfer noodles to a strainer, and rinse with cold water until they are completely chilled. Strain out any extra water, then drizzle a bit of sesame oil on the noodles and toss with your fingers until they are evenly coated. This will help them not to stick together. Set aside.
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To Make The Sauce: Whisk all sauce ingredients together until combined.
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To Prep The Steak: Toss the steak, a bit of the soy sauce, a bit of the maple syrup and a pinch each of salt and pepper together in a large bowl until combined. Let marinate for 5 minutes.
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To Make The Stir-Fry: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat. Add the steak and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Transfer steak to a separate clean plate, and set aside.
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Reduce the sauté pan heat to medium-high. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion, and toss to combine. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in the mushrooms, bell pepper, carrot and garlic cloves, and season with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Continue sautéing for 4-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender and cooked. Next, add the cooked noodles, steak and the sauce to the veggies.
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Stir in the spinach, and cook for 2-3 more minutes, using tongs to toss the veggie mixture frequently, until the spinach has wilted.
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Taste, and season with extra soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and/or pepper if needed.
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Serve warm, garnished with lots of toasted sesame seeds and green onions, if desired.
