Japchae - Your Next Potluck Dish

Ingredients

• Korean sweet potato noodles (Dangmyeon - 480g)
• Wood Ear mushroom - 1/2 cup (optional, can use shiitake mushrooms too)
• Carrot - 1/2 cup
• Onion - 1 cup
• Shiitake mushrooms - 1/2 cup
• Spring onion - 1/2 cup
• Baek's Soy Sauce - 1/3 cup
• Sesame oil - 4 teaspoon
• Brown sugar - 2.5 teaspoon
• Minced garlic - 1.5 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Black pepper - few shakes

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Prep Work ---

2. 2

   Fill up a large mixing bowl or pot with lukewarm water. Grab some noodles (a 2-person portion size is roughly equal to the width of your forearm, so we will do it twice for our 4-person portion).

3. 3

   Place noodles into the water for 2-3 hours to re-hydrate.

4. 4

   Take out a smaller mixing bowl and place the Earwood Mushroom in for 30 minutes - to re-hydrate them as well. Drain them afterwards

5. 5

   While you wait, prep the other vegetables: cut carrots into thin julienne strips, cut onion and mushroom length-wise into strips, dice spring onions into small circles, cut the hydrated Earwood Mushroom in half.

6. 6

   --- Pan-fry vegetables ---

7. 7

   Put oil into a large frying pan and turn on medium-high heat. Put spring onions (1/4 cup) in and wait until they start sizzling in the oil.

8. 8

   Then add in all of the vegetables into the pan. Cook them until onions begin to turn slightly clear. Season with black pepper.

9. 9

   Turn-off heat and set aside the vegetables on a plate.

10. 10

    --- Pan-fry noodles ---

11. 11

    Bring a pot up to boil and cook the noodles for exactly five minutes. Drain noodles through a strainer to get rid of excess water.

12. 12

    Take out large frying pan and add sesame oil, minced garlic and spring onions (1/4 cup).

13. 13

    Put the frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once the spring onion begins to sizzle, put in brown sugar and Baek's soy sauce. Stir until sugar melt and sauce becomes slightly sticky.

14. 14

    Now add the boiled noodles into the sticky sauce and stir for about a minute. The noodles should have turn clear and be very soft to taste (sample one to check!).

15. 15

    Then add the seasoned vegetables from the previous step into the noodles. Turn off the heat and add sesame oil and sesame seeds. Give a final mix.