Japchae is an aromatic Korean glass noodle salad made from sweet potato noodles, vegetables and meat, seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. The Japchae recipe is easy to prepare and you can also serve it with glass noodles.
Our Japchae combines noodles, fresh vegetables, omelette and marinated beef. For the vegetables, we chose carrots, peppers, spinach, mushrooms and spring onions, but the Japchae recipe can also be modified with other vegetables according to taste (or leftovers from the fridge). The meat is marinated and one of the special features of the Korean glass noodle salad is that it also contains omelette cut into strips. Instead of sweet potato noodles, you can also use glass noodles made from mung beans.
Ingredients for Korean glass noodle salad
You can find most of the ingredients for the Japchae recipe in the supermarket. We’ll show you which ingredients you need here:
- Sweet potato noodles form the basis of Korean glass noodle salad and are available online or in Asian supermarkets. Instead, you can also opt for glass noodles, which are available in every supermarket.
- Vegetables: Japchae traditionally contains carrots, peppers, mushrooms and spring onions. Alternatively, you can also use other vegetables (leftovers) from the fridge.
- Meat: Before frying, the beef is marinated in a spicy soy marinade with sesame oil and a little sugar for extra flavor. Not a classic dish, but a crispy chicken dish is also delicious.
- From 2 eggs we prepare a simple omelet This is rolled up for the glass noodle salad and cut into fine strips. Not only does it taste good, it also provides an extra portion of protein. If you want, you can also make an omelette soufflé out of it.
How to prepare Japchae in 5 steps
Preparing the Korean glass noodle salad is straightforward, but it does take a little time until the meat is marinated and the vegetables are chopped. The recipe basically consists of 3 steps:
- Prepare the marinade: First, marinate the meat with mushrooms and oil so that it can marinate well before frying. Use the remaining marinade to dress the Korean glass noodle salad.
- Cut and fry vegetables: During the marinating time, you first chop the vegetables and then fry them. You can either add the spinach to the vegetables at the end until it collapses, or you can blanch it in the pasta water.
- Cooking pasta: Cook the sweet potato noodles or glass noodles according to the instructions on the packet. The advantage of this type of noodle is that it takes very little time to cook. Or you can use rice noodles like in our Asian salad.
- omelet: Prepare an omelette in a pan using eggs and a pinch of salt. You can use the same pan you use to fry the vegetables.
- Mix and serve: In the last step, mix all Japchae ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.
Simple recipe for Japchae, a Korean glass noodle salad, with mixed vegetables, egg and optional meat.
Suitable recipe recommendations
- large pan
- Cutting board and knife
- Bowls
370G
Information for 4 Portions
Marinate meat
- Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for about 30 minutes or drain the pickled mushrooms.
20 g dried shiitake mushrooms
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
1½ tsp sugar, 1 pinch of black pepper, 10 tbsp soy sauce, 4 tbsp sesame oil
- Cut the meat into strips and place in a bowl. Add chopped garlic, soaked mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of the marinade, mix well and leave to marinate covered in the fridge for an hour.
200 g beef, 2 garlic cloves
spinach
- Wash the baby spinach and blanch in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove, rinse in a bowl of cold water, chop roughly and place in a bowl.
200 g baby spinach
Pasta
- Let the water in the spinach pot continue to boil and prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the water and cut the pasta into shorter pieces with scissors. Then put it in a bowl and add the spinach.
200 g Dangmyeon/ glass noodles
omelet
- Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in a small bowl and fry them in a pan with oil to make a thin omelette. Remove, roll up, cut into thin rolls and add to the pasta.
2 eggs, 1 pinch of salt
Vegetables
- Cut the spring onions into pieces about 5cm long and halve them, cut the onions into half rings, cut the mushrooms into slices. Peel the carrot and cut into julienne strips, cut the half pepper into fine strips.
4 spring onions, 1 onion, 8 mushrooms, 2 carrots, 1 bell pepper
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the prepared vegetables for about 2 minutes. Add to the bowl with the pasta. We start with the onions and add the rest of the vegetables about 1 minute later.
- Roughly clean the pan, add more oil and sear the meat over high heat. Do not turn until the meat is well done on the frying side. Add the meat to the pasta mixture as well.
- Pour the remaining marinade into the bowl over all the ingredients, mix well, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of sugar, 1 pinch of pepper, 1 tbsp sesame, 2 tbsp sesame oil
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