Korean Japchae Stir-Fried Noodles Make the Perfect Lunar New Year Recipe

Both sides of my family immigrated from Seoul, Korea to Los Angeles, California in the late seventies and early eighties. For any community leaving one place and settling in another, places where people can see one another and see themselves become irreplaceable. For our families and many other Koreans living in America, that was the church. 

The Korean church was, and continues to be, a meeting place for its diaspora — a makeshift town square. The main service, often given in Korean, ended at about noon. After the organ played off its last hymn, the congregation would scatter across the church grounds. Some went to various meeting rooms to talk business. Some went outside, to the parking lot, leaving immediately. Down one hall, a day care. Next to it, classrooms teaching children Korean. Meeting rooms, libraries, basketball courts, and offices. We even had a liminal alleyway where every summer, fresh grass grew through the hot, cracking cement. Most of the congregation went into the main amphitheater, a large banquet hall lined with veneered walnut tables and mossy-red aluminum chairs. They were hungry and ready for lunch. 

The church kitchen was busy every Sunday. Various families and bible study groups took turns feeding the entire community. For the most part, it would be simple dishes that could be scaled up: rice-cake soup (with rice on the side), stewed bean sprouts in a peppery broth, egg-battered, shallow-fried whitefish, if we were lucky. Rarer celebrations called for more pomp. On days when the church held weddings and funerals, the food represented the best of our culture. Trays of kimchi, bulgogi, tteok, and steamed and stewed radish would be served en masse. It was food meant to placate yearning; it was supposed to taste like home. 

At the start of the line, next to the chopsticks, napkins, and styrofoam plates, there would likely be a tray of lukewarm japchae. And it would often run out before my turn in line. Japchae is a Korean glass noodle dish in which the noodles are stir-fried in sesame oil with various vegetables. Japchae, prepared at home, is often made with some kind of meat, usually affordably priced beef, and whatever vegetables were left over in the fridge. Each vegetable is cut to the same size, then cooked off individually. 

This is all subjective, and other Koreans may disagree, but I think japchae made in a wok tastes best. My favorite japchae is from the Chinese-Korean restaurant twenty minutes from my childhood home. Wok-style cooking is similar to how japchae is traditionally made. Each component is cooked separately, then removed from the pan. The key difference is the wok’s high heat, which imparts a smoky aroma that makes the dish even more savory and delicious. It also makes the resulting japchae hot, which is how my father loves it. It’s the way I love it. 

Vegan Japchae with Mushrooms Recipe

The process of cooking japchae may seem unwieldy, but in practice, the time goes by quickly. It is a meditative process for me — repetitive, low-stress. The senses work in collaboration. My attention is fully surrendered to each vegetable. The result is an incredibly nuanced yet humble dish, each bite prompting the next. 

Japchae was often the first dish served at the Chinese-Korean restaurant my family frequented. It was also, oftentimes, the first dish we finished. Many times before the rest of the food came out. 

Active time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

3 packs of sweet potato noodles
4 cups of spinach
Sesame oil
1/2 onion
1 bell pepper
2 carrots
1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, rinsed
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp agave syrup
Black pepper
Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

Blanch the spinach in a large pot of boiling water for thirty seconds, up to a minute. Remove the spinach with a small handheld strainer when it has softened. In the same pot, cook the sweet potato noodles. Make sure to stir every so often, so the noodles don’t stick. 

After six minutes of cooking, empty the entire pot of water into the sink, making sure to strain the noodles in a colander. Rinse the noodles under cold water then set them aside in a medium-sized bowl. While the noodles and spinach cool off, prepare the rest of the vegetables. 

Each vegetable should roughly be the same length and thickness. Each bite should have a bit of each vegetable. Take your time to slice the vegetables thinly. A julienne or a dedicated vegetable peeler can help here. 

Once the vegetables are ready, wipe down the pot from earlier. Set the burners to medium-low heat and add the sesame oil. When cooking with sesame oil, the key is to not to let the pot get too hot, otherwise the oil can burn. An alternative to sesame oil is Korean perilla oil or algae cooking oil. As the onions, bell peppers, carrots, and mushrooms cook, season each vegetable with a pinch of salt individually. 

The goal is not to brown the onions (or any of the vegetables) but to get them soft and translucent. The rawness should be cooked off, and a sweet fragrance should rise. When fully cooked, scoop the onions out of the pot with a spatula or a wooden spoon. 

Next is the bell peppers. The stiff flesh should soften and turn a deeper red. Remove from the pot.  With the carrots, a similar cue: softening and a change in color. Remove from the pot. 

Finally, the mushrooms. Mushrooms are interesting because they need to cook out their water first before they begin to cook. The difference between a mushroom steaming and a mushroom lightly frying is the sound. The sound is like sizzling bacon. It’s a higher pitch. When they are there, remove them from the pot. 

Finish the dish by throwing the noodles back into the pot with all the vegetables. The heat from the pan is softening the noodle texture, helping the seasoning adhere. Toss with the soy sauce and agave. To serve, sprinkle on sesame seeds and fresh cracked black pepper (lots of both). The dish can be served at either room temp or hot; either is delicious. 

NOTE: To shorten the time, an alternative: after the noodles and spinach are cooked, heat up a quarter cup of neutral oil in a large saucepan on high heat and add in the onions, bell peppers, carrots, and mushrooms all at once. This style is quicker, but it tastes more homogeneous. It’s okay. I like the traditional method better.