{"id":33330,"title":"Beef Japchae","modified":"2025-06-16T09:14:03+02:00","plain":"Japchae, what is it?\n\n\n\nJapchae is a traditional Korean dish made with translucent sweet potato noodles, vegetables, and meat. Koreans often prepare it for special occasions, for example, on New Year's Day, as it is said to bring good luck for the year ahead. It is also often served as banchan or as anju (food served with alcohol, like jokbal).\n\n\n\nIt is a staple of the Korean cuisine.\n\n\n\nBut let's be honest, the dish is delicious and most of us aren't Korean, so why miss out?\n\n\n\nWhat to serve with Japchae?\n\n\n\nJapchae pairs well with many side dishes, and some of the most popular are: \n\n\n\n\nKimchi  \n\n\n\nSpicy Korean fish cakes (Godeungeo)\n\n\n\nCrispy Korean chicken (Dakgangjeong)  \n\n\n\n\nDelicious Korean chicken wings\n\n\n\nJapchae ingredients \n\n\n\n\nBeef: use a quick-cooking cut such as ribeye or sirloin\n\n\n\nDangmyeon: the famous Korean sweet potato noodles; buy them here on Amazon. They are also used in jjimdak\n\n\n\n\nSoy stir-fried glass noodles\n\n\n\n\nShiitake mushrooms: they can be hard to find in stores; buy them here on Amazon\n\n\n\n\nTips on how to prepare Korean beef Japchae\n\n\n\n\nIf you buy dried shiitakes instead of fresh, remember to soak them in water for a few hours before cooking. If shiitakes are unavailable, oyster mushrooms are a good substitute.\n\n\n\nI usually use pre-cut noodles that are 30 to 40 cm long. After boiling, I trim them a little with scissors, far less than I would with traditional noodles. These pre-cut noodles are much easier to cook, so I highly recommend them. Traditional noodles can be up to 1.5 m long and are a nightmare to mix.\n\n\n\nTo save time, read through the instructions first and carry out several tasks in parallel (for example, boil two pots of water at once: one for the spinach and one for the glass noodles).\n\n\n\nJapchae can be served hot or cold, and it reheats well in the microwave.\n\n\n\nStore leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. They will keep a little longer, but the noodles will not look as nice by then.\n\n\n\n\nIf you are unsure which soy sauce to buy, check out my comprehensive article on dark soy sauce and light soy sauce\n\n\n\nJapchae recipe \n\n\n\n\n\n\tJapchae with Beef\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tMain200 g sliced beef2 large shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 2-3h then sliced ()125 g spinach1 carrot cut into thin strips250 g dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodles)0.5 sliced onion1 egg, white separated from yolk2 spring onion stems, cut into 1-2 cm piecesBeef & Mushroom Marinade1 clove minced garlic1 tsp brown sugar1 pinch pepper2 tsp light soy sauce1 tsp sesame oilNoodle Seasoning2 tsp sesame oil1 tsp light soy sauce1 tsp brown sugarSpinach Seasoning1 tsp light soy sauce1 tsp sesame oilFinal Seasoning1 clove minced garlic1 tbsp light soy sauce1 tbsp brown sugar0.5 tsp pepper2 tsp sesame oil\t\n\t\n\t\tMarinate the beef and mushrooms in a covered bowl in the fridge.Beat the egg yolk with a pinch of salt.Heat the wok over medium heat with a tablespoon of oil.Turn off the heat and pour in the yolk. Tilt the wok so the yolk spreads out. Cook for 1 min, flip and cook 1 min more. Slice thinly and set aside. Repeat with the white.Boil water and blanch the spinach for 45 seconds.Rinse them in cold water to stop cooking and squeeze out all the water. Cut a few times and place in a large bowl with the spinach seasoning.In the still-boiling water, add the noodles, cover and cook 1 min. Stir to loosen them and cook 7 min more.Remove them, cut a few times, add to the spinach bowl and pour in the noodle seasoning.With a little oil in the wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry the onion and spring onion for 2 min with a pinch of salt. Transfer to the noodle bowl.Reheat the wok, stir-fry the carrot for 30 seconds and add to the noodle bowl.Add more oil to the wok and heat on high. Stir-fry the beef and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes.Add to the bowl, pour in the final seasoning and toss gently.Serve warm or chilled and garnish with some egg on top.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tMain courseKorean\t\n\n\n\n\n\nCulinary source\n\n\n\nMaangchi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}