Let’s Eat: Vegan Japchae

Food + Drink

I am always in Asian markets, and last year, I came across a Korean sweet potato noodle. Naïvely, I only boiled and seasoned them since I was not sure how to cook them. Then, my symphony conductor made a dish that I had to try.

Japchae (잡채) is a classic Korean dish made up of the clear (and gluten-free!) sweet potato noodle dangmyeon, stir-fried vegetables, and sauce. Japchae can be served as a side or main dish and often includes beef or pork, but I substituted it with tofu. With or without tofu, it makes a great vegan dish.

Ingredients:

  • Dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles)
  • Extra firm tofu
  • Soy sauce
  • Vegetable oil
  • Brown sugar
  • Baby spinach
  • Shiitake mushrooms
  • Carrots (matchsticks)
  • Yellow onion
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic

Directions:

  • Dice the tofu, mushrooms, garlic, and onions.
  • In a large saucepan, boil lightly salted water over high heat.
  • Add noodles, and boil them for about five minutes until the noodles are cooked through.
  • Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.
  • Cut noodles with scissors (they’re usually long), drizzle them with vegetable oil, and toss to coat.
  • In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and brown sugar together until the sugar dissolves.
  • Set the noodles and soy sauce mix aside.
  • In a large frying pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat.
  • Add tofu and let it fry until it’s light brown.
  • Add carrots, onion, salt, and pepper. Stir for about eight minutes until the onion softens.
  • Add mushrooms and garlic. Stir for about three minutes.
  • Increase the heat, add spinach, and toss. Let it cook until the spinach is slightly wilted.
  • Add noodles and soy sauce mix. Toss for about three minutes.
  • Serve immediately.
If you try this, tweet me! Bon Appétit!

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