JS:
I'm not a big fan of jap chae (also known as chop chae, job chae), but I always order it when we go to Korean restaurants, probably out of a sense of obligation. I feel like I should like jap chae, but in any case, even if I don't, I know my family members love this noodle dish enough to finish it without my help.
One fine day here in eatingclubvancouverland, my sense of obligation lined up with my desire to get a good deal. When I saw some sweet potato noodles (dangmyun/dangmyeon) on sale, marketed as "Korean traditional food," I thought I'd get them and try to make jap chae at home.
TS:
Well, unlike JS, I love jap chae! I was excited to cook some at home.
TS:
Jap chae can take on various ingredients. In our case, I had onions, carrots, mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers, mushrooms, green onions and garlic. We also had beef, so I added that as well.
To prepare the sweet potato starch noodles, I cooked them in boiling water until tender, then added soy sauce and sesame oil to taste. I also cut them with scissors at this point for ease of eating.
I followed the more "traditional" method of making jap chae by cooking each ingredient separately, seasoning each with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil, then tossing everything together with the boiled glass noodles.
I added a bit of sugar (or use honey), made a quick adjustment of the seasonings (soy sauce and sesame oil) and the dish was good to go.
Since I am pretty lazy, next time I am going to cook the non-noodle ingredients all at once, adding them to one pan in the order of longest to shortest cooking time.
JS:
Still not a fan -- that is, I probably wouldn't choose to eat jap chae if there are other dishes to have -- but I can see the appeal of it. I'm thinking food preferences must be one of those things, eh? Either you like it or you don't: no harm, no foul, no judgments.
TS:
Let me be the one to "flame" JS, then. FLAME! FLAME! FLAME!
I love jap chae. =)
Scroll down for recipes.
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Recipes
Maangchi: Japchae (stirfried noodle with vegetables)
Tasty Meals at Home: Tasty Jap Chae
Kits Chow: Stir-fried noodles with vegetables, Chap Jae
Steamy Kitchen: Korean Glass Noodles -- Jap Chae / Chap Chae
Dr. Ben Kim: How to Make Jap Chae
eatingclub vancouver Korean
Korean Sprouts & Spicy Cold Cucumber Salad
Kimchi Fried Rice, an addiction
Korean Soybean Sprouts Pancake (Kongnamul Jeon)
Korean Pork Bulgogi (with Muu Namul, Kong Namul)
Korean Roast Salmon
Korean Fried Chicken
Korean Sweet Potatoes with Yangnyeom Sauce
Japchae / Jap Chae (Korean Glass Noodles with Vegetables)
Brown Rice Bibimbap (Korean Rice Bowl)
Korean Oxtail Soup (Gom Tang)
Yah, I'm with TS, Japchae rocks. Probably one of my favourites. The only thing I don't like is that it is usually very expensive and I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeletetotally agree about putting all the ingredients at once...I am just the same kind of lazy.
ReplyDeleteBut I love japchae. I love the texture (which is why most people don't.)
Looks terrific! I love the way those noodles look...Thanks again for your submission to last week's whb- the round up is now posted on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever heard of sweet potato noodles, do they have sweet potato flavor
ReplyDeleteI've got to applaud your good thinking when you say you take a scissors to the noodles! First time I bought sweet potato noodles, I cooked them up "as-is"... boy were those long noodles difficult to eat!!
ReplyDeleteI bet this taste g g great if eaten while watching K-dramas huuahahahaha~ :D
ReplyDeleteI'm with TS - total sucker for jap chae. I don't know if it's the simplicity or - no, screw it. I know what it is. It's the noodles. I will cop to having an insane infatuation with glass 'rice', mung bean, and sweet potato noodles. When you get a little bowl of jap chae at the start of a Korean meal, I'm so happy that I don't even care what comes next.
ReplyDeleteSherman:
ReplyDeleteKorean places are usually more expensive here. That's why you have to make it yourself, hehe.
maybelle's mom:
Yeah, JS claims it feels "slimy".
Winnie:
Thanks!
kat:
No, they don't have a sweet potato flavor at all. They just used the starch from sweet potatoes, but the noodles are pretty tasteless.
Lo:
Haha. Actually, my first instinct is never to cut up noodles of any sort. But I had experience with bean thread noodles before, and they really needed to be cut up!
M Rita:
Haha... it's all about the "ambience" when one is wating. ;)
Choosy Beggar Tina:
I like all glass noodles too!
I love japchae haha - I actually like the texture of these more than the Chinese glass noodles that are usually a little thinner.
ReplyDeleteJen (Tastes of Home):
ReplyDeleteYeah, I usually like thicker noodles in general as well. =)