Korean Noodle Salad: Chapchae or Japchae

Or, I told you, my mom can COOK!

Chapchae is one of my favorite dishes traditionally served at large Korean dinners for special occasions. When I was growing up, my mother’s Korean church would have a huge Korean Thanksgiving feast. Most of the women and some of the men would dress up in their hanboks (traditional Korean clothing) and there would be so much food. My mom would fill a huge picnic cooler full of cooked rice to bring and spend days making all sorts of yummy food for the banquet.

There are a lot of steps involved in making chapchae but the end result is worth it. This recipe makes quite a bit, so be prepared to eat it for days or share with friends and family. I don’t think it freezes well because most of the appeal is in the crisp texture of the fresh vegetables and the noodles would get funky. You can certainly scale the recipe down and add or subtract amounts to suit your own tastes.

This is an excellent recipe for vegetarians, it’s delicious without the meat and substantial enough to make a light meal. The only ingredients that might not be easily found at a regular supermarket are the sweet potato noodles and dried mushrooms. You could substitute fresh mushrooms, although I like the chewier texture of dried in this dish. Sweet potato noodles are available at most Asian groceries, but if your local shop doesn’t carry them, I’ve used other varieties of glass or cellophane noodles (such as bean threads) with great success.

If your supermarket has an excellent fresh salad bar, I see nothing wrong with cheating and buying some of the vegetables already sliced to save a bit of prep work.

Chapchae (Japchae) recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1.5 lb bag of sweet potato noodles
• 1 ounce dried shitake mushrooms
• 1 ounce dried black mushrooms (you can use all of one kind or substitute mushrooms. If you hate mushrooms leave them out, but that’s kind of crazy talk)
• 1/2-1 lb of beef marinated for bulgogi or a beef ribeye steak sliced into thin strips (this is a good use for leftover bulgogi, but if you don’t have any and don’t have time to prepare some, plain beef works. You could also use thinly sliced pork tenderloin or chicken or mix it up. Or, as I said, omit the meat altogether)
• 1.5 cups or thereabouts of thinly sliced bell peppers. I like a mix of colors, but use whatever is good and fits your pocketbook (I know around here red, yellow and orange bell peppers are sometimes outrageous)
• 1 or 2 medium onions thinly sliced. Just plain white or yellow ones, you could substitute some purple ones but it will make the dish sweeter.
• 2 medium carrots cut into matchsticks
• 1 bunch of broccoli florets, sliced into thin pieces. Actually this is probably too much, so snack on some raw broccoli while you are cooking. You can also peel and thinly cut the stems into matchsticks and use them, too. This is in no way a traditional ingredient but it tastes good and adds nutrition, so in it goes.
• 2 10 ounce bags of spinach. They say it’s washed, but go on and wash it again.
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce plus extra for seasoning the spinach and beef if you’re not using bulgogi
• 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil plus a little extra to season the spinach and beef and stir fry the noodles

First, put the mushrooms in some water to rehydrate according to package instructions. This takes about an hour. When they are soft, squeeze out all the liquid and slice into thin strips and put aside.

If you are using leftover bulgogi, you are set. If you are using bulgogi that isn’t cooked, stir fry it and reserve the liquid (this is extra flavor). If you are using plain beef, mix up a bit of sesame oil, soy sauce and a minced or crushed garlic clove or two and stir it into the beef and then stir fry.

Stir fry the mushrooms and 2 cloves of minced garlic in a bit of vegetable oil for a few minutes, remove, then stir fry the onions, bell peppers, carrots until tender but still quite crisp and put aside.

Blanch the broccoli in a pot of salted, boiling water. Take out and put in a bowl of ice water to set the color and stop cooking, then drain well and put aside.

Blanch the spinach very briefly in a pot of boiling water. Drain and rinse with cold water and then squeeze as much liquid as possible out with your hands. You will be shocked at how little there is left. In a bowl, combine with a clove or two of minced garlic, a few splashes of sesame oil and a bit of soy sauce. This is actually really good served on its own just like this.

Boil a large pot of water, then add the sweet potato noodles. It only takes about five minutes to cook, you’ll want them tender but not at all mushy. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until cool. Use kitchen shears to cut them into 5-6 inch lengths for easier eating. It’s much, much easier to cut them after cooking!

This next step can be skipped but my mom says it’s good for keeping the noodles from getting too mushy from absorbing liquid from the other ingredients. The key is to use as little oil as possible, only enough to give the noodles a light coat.

In a very large frying pan or wok, heat up a little bit of sesame oil. Add the noodles, tossing them quickly with tongs or chopsticks and stir fry for a minute or two. Depending on the size of your pan, this might be better done in two batches.

Put the noodles into a very large mixing bowl and add in all of the other ingredients. Toss together with tongs or your hands. Add in about 1/2 cup of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and a few shakes of black pepper, if desired, and toss some more. Taste for seasoning, and if necessary add more soy sauce or sesame oil or even a little salt.

I think chapchae is best served at room temperature, but you can eat it straight out of the fridge, cold or warm it in the microwave. It will keep for about 2 days in the fridge.

You can certainly add toasted sesame seeds if you like them and garnish with sliced spring onions. I’ve tasted other recipes that seemed to have sugar in them, but I like my mom’s version with no sugar best. By all means add other vegetables you’d think would be good, shredded napa cabbage is one I’ve seen, but take care to squeeze all the moisture out of really juicy ones.

Please let me know if you’ve try the recipe and how you enjoyed it and I’ll be glad to answer any questions in the comments section.

Tagged as: chapchae, japchae, Korean food, recipes