Korean Mixed Vegetables–Japchae

For the longest time, I have meaning to make this dish, but somehow that just didn’t happen. Until recently, that is.

Perhaps it due to some recipes calling for all the ingredients to be fried separately before combining in the final dish which gave me the impression that this is one of those fussy dishes to prepare.

If you have followed me long enough on this space, you would know that I am fearless when it comes to tinkering with recipes, regardless of how authoritative they may be. So I away I went and cooked everything in a pan.

And so how did it turn out?

It was definitely better than the many versions I had while dining out. My only problem was that I had soaked the noodles for too long and hence they started to break up while I was stirring it. Apart from that, it was certainly a satisfying dish. It was so good on its own that we didn’t bother with our rice.

The ingredients list seems like anything goes. Optimally, you should aim for 5 colours to make the dish more appetising. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t add red peppers nor chilies to brighten things up a little as Princess specifically banned both of these items from her dishes. I threw in a handful of reconstituted dried fernbrake for a more authentic Korean dimension to it. This is available are Korean grocery shops.

A few things to note for this dish:

1. Soak the sweet potato noodles until softened and remove from water immediate and let it drain. To prevent it from sticking, mix in a couple teaspoons of sesame oil.

2. Soak fernbrake ahead of cooking time. These are tough if undersoaked.

3. Stir in green leafy vegetables just before serving to maintain its fresh green colour.