Emma’s Japchae-korean comfort food

Emma’s Japchae (note: the picture below depicts a chicken Japchae)

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 150 grams scotch fillet or any other lean cuts of beef
• 250 grams Japchae sweet potato noodles (around half a packet, however, you can put in more and less noodles, depending on your liking)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot (or two small carrots), julienned
• 1 large green or red capsicum, cut into thin strips
• 6 small dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water for 1 hour, and cut into thin strips
• 2-3 Chinese black fungus, rehydrated in warm water for 1 hour and cut into thin strips
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce for the noodles:

• 4-5 tbsp light soy sauce (to taste)
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp of sugar

 Ingredients for the beef marinade:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1 tbsp of caster sugar
• 4 tbsp of light soy sauce
• Black pepper

 Method:

1. Cut the beef into thin strips and marinate in garlic, sesame oil, caster sugar, light soy sauce and black pepper for 30 minutes
2. Marinate the sliced shitake mushrooms with a pinch of sugar, a drizzle of light soy sauce and sesame oil, set aside
3. Cook the sweet potato noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes (or according to the packet instruction). Rinse in cold water well and drain well. Cut noodles with a pair of scissors. Add the sauce for the noodles and mix well. Set aside
4. Stir-fry the vegetables separately (one ingredient at a time) in a lightly oiled non-stick pan on high heat with a pinch of salt (to help draw the liquid out and help the vegetables collapse faster) and set aside
5. Stir-fry the shitake mushrooms and black fungus, and set aside
6. Stir-fry the marinated beef with garlic on high heat for a couple of minutes and set aside
7. Stir-fry the noodles for a couple of minutes on high heat to allow it to absorb the flavour and colour of the sauce mixture. Put the stir-fried noodles in a large bowl and mix with the cooked beef, vegetables and mushrooms. Add more light soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil to taste (it is a little like ‘salad dressing’ to this noodle dish, as the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil help bring everything together. Make sure to taste before adding more in order to adjust the quantity to personal preference) while the noodles and other cooked ingredients are still warm. Mix well
8. Serve warm or cold, on its own or with steamed rice and Kimchi. The noodles should be glossy, shiny, soft and slightly chewy. Note: you can add English spinach, strips of omelette, Chinese broccoli, seafood and/or a variety of Asian mushrooms, and substitute beef with chicken or pork in this very ‘forgiving’ recipe. When it comes to what you put in Japchae, the sky is the limit!