Anyong Haseyo, AGAIN! Yup, yet another Korean dish – this time,Japchae. 🙂 I made this to accompany my Myulchi Bokkeum. Maybe I’m easy to please, but I’m happiest eating simple food. These 2 dishes may be humble fare, but I’ll pick them over fine dining any day.

I recently saw a lovely Japchae at Teczcape’sblog, and used her recipe as a reference. Actually, this dish is so incredibly easy to make, you hardly need a recipe! It’s true. All it takes is a quick stirfry of the veggies while your glass noodles cook in a separate pot, and when both are ready, just mix everything up. That’s it!

Use any combination of veggies you like, but be sure to slice them in uniform thickness. I used a few leaves wong bok (long cabbage), a large handful of bean sprouts, 5 to 6 white button mushrooms, and a few stalks of chye sim. You’ll also need some minced garlic and sliced yellow onions to lend some aroma.

First, heat some vegetable oil, and fry garlic and onions till fragrant. Add in your veggies and continue stirfrying. I seasoned mine with a pinch of anchovy (ikan bilis) powder. You want your veggies to still retain their crunch, so make sure you don’t overcook.

When done, drain away the excess liquid. How to drain? Just tip your pan at an angle and press the back of your spatula against the veggies. Primitive yes, but it works! 😉 Leave to cool in a serving bowl (see photo above).

In the meantime, boil your glass noodles in water. As this is cooking, make the dressing. I didn’t actually measure out the proportions but it’s roughly:

– 2 tbsp soy sauce
– 2 tbsp sesame oil
– 2 tbsp brown sugar

Feel free to adjust according to your taste.

Once the glass noodles cook (and they do so very quickly), drain them and then place them atop the veggies. Pour the dressing in and toss well, like a salad. Sprinkle lightly toasted sesame seeds and serve. Some people add Gojuchang (Korean hot pepper paste), but I left it out because my Myulchi Bokkeum was already spicy enough.