Vegetarian Japchae (잡채)

I have an updated japchae post, if you're interested.

Last year, I did a post on japchae but I wasn't as awesome at blogging as I am now (that is an example of hyperbole and sarcasm) so I'm re-doing it and this time, I made it vegetarian. Japchae, if you didn't know, is a noodle dish - usually consumed as a side dish with rice (which sounds weird... noodles AND rice? but that's how Koreans are). The noodles are made from sweet potato starch and they're translucent and chewy and quite different from Italian pasta or even Chinese rice noodles. The noodles are boiled and then stir fried with vegetables and usually beef and seasoned with soy sauce. It's a pretty universally-liked dish because the flavors are friendly and almost any vegetable can be used.

Ingredients:
handful of sweet potato starch noodles (about 1" in diameter)
½ cup julienned carrots
1 package of sliced shiitake mushrooms
½ onion, sliced
1 long hot pepper, sliced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup baby spinach
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Start by heating a big skillet with the sesame oil and vegetable oil. Add in the all of vegetables and mushrooms, except the spinach and sprouts, and let them saute until just barely softened.

Meanwhile, boil some water and cook the noodles.

Once the noodles are cooked through, drain them and add them to the vegetables. Toss to combine and get the ingredients well-distributed. Add the spinach and sprouts and toss to let them start to wilt. Immediately pour in the soy sauce and brown sugar mixture and toss to combine.

Serve warm, garnished with sesame seeds.

YUM!

Here's the recipe page: