Japchae
Glass noodles, beef, spinach, carrot and sesame-soy.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
Sauteing each vegetable SEPARATELY is what makes japchae feel polished - each one keeps its own color and texture. Lump them together and you get a brown soggy pile.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 8 ozdangmyeon (sweet potato glass noodles)
- 8 ozbeef sirloinfrozen 20 min, sliced into thin strips
- 5 ozbaby spinach
- 1 largecarrotjulienned
- 4 ozshiitake mushroomsstems removed, sliced
- 1 mediumyellow onionthinly sliced
- 1 mediumred bell pepperjulienned
- 3scallionscut into 2-inch lengths
- 4 tbspsoy saucesplit - 1 tbsp for beef marinade, 3 tbsp for noodle sauce
- 1 tbspmirin
- 2 tbspbrown sugar
- 3 tbsptoasted sesame oil
- 4garlic clovesminced
- 2 tbspneutral oil
- 1 tbsptoasted sesame seedstoasted
- 1 tspkosher salt
- ½ tspblack pepper
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 590calories
- 20gprotein
- 66gcarbs
- 27gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Toss sliced beef with 1 tbsp soy and 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp sesame oil and half the garlic and pepper. Let marinate 15 min.
- Whisk 3 tbsp soy and 1 tbsp mirin and 4 tsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp sesame oil and remaining garlic for noodle sauce.
- Julienne carrot and bell pepper. Slice shiitake and onion. Cut scallions.
Cook noodles
Bring large pot of water to boil. Add dangmyeon; boil 6-7 min until tender and translucent. Drain, rinse cold to stop cooking, snip with scissors into 6-inch lengths. Toss with sesame oil and 1 tbsp of the noodle sauce.
7 min · hands onWilt spinach
Bring small pot of water to boil. Blanch spinach 30 sec, drain, squeeze dry. Toss with sesame oil and pinch salt.
2 min · hands onSaute vegetables
Heat skillet over medium-high with neutral oil. Sauté each vegetable separately with pinch salt: onion 3 min, carrot 3 min, bell pepper 3 min, shiitake 4 min. Pile each in its own corner.
13 min · hands onSear beef
Add neutral oil. Sear marinated beef and scallions 3 min until cooked through.
3 min · hands onCombine
Return all vegetables and spinach and noodles to the skillet. Pour over the remaining noodle sauce. Toss vigorously over medium 2-3 min until everything is glossy and glazed and uniformly seasoned.
3 min · hands onPlate
Transfer to a serving platter. Scatter sesame seeds. Serve warm or room temp.
1 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Slice thin, marinate same way, sauté 4 min.
Press 10 min, julienne, sauté in sesame oil 4 min.
Skip meat - add 4 oz extra mushrooms. Saves about 5 minutes.
Check label - many tamari brands still contain wheat.
What keeps
Japchae is a make-ahead party dish - keeps 3 days fridge, eaten room temp or rewarmed. Toss with a splash of sesame oil if it dries.
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