INGREDIENTS  
serves 4

12oz Korean sweet potato glass noodles
1 lrg broccoli crown
2 carrots
1/2 cabbage
1 bunch green onions
2 green bell pepperrs
3 celery stalks
4 cloves garlic, minced
white and black pepper

KALE’s way: 
protein: fried tofu or dumplings
garnish: sesame seeds or furikake 

Sauce:

4 tbsp light soy
4 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp hoisin
2 cloves garlic minced

opt
ginger minced

︎Note: There’s a subtle kick of heat coming from the black and white pepper, but consider adding chili crisps or srirracha to the sauce if you’re feeling spicy.

This dish is 70% chopping prep, 30% cooking. If you want a quick dinner, prep the vegetables the day before. That way, you can get straight to cooking and eating!

  DIRECTIONS  

Start by submerging your noodles into a large bowl of hot water. Let them soak  for at least 15 minutes. In the meantime, wash all of your vegetables and set them out to dry. 

Peel and mince your garlic and set aside. Then thinly chop up your green onion, separating the whites and green ends. Set aside. 

Peel and julliene your carrot into ~2-3 inch sticks. Set aside.

Chop up your broccoli into little florettes, set aside. 

Now drain your cooled sweet potato noodles and submerge it in another round of hot water (not boiling). Set aside. 

Continue preparing the vegetables by roughly slicing cabbage. Set aside. 

Slice your green bell peppers longways into ~ a centimeter thick pieces. Set aside. 

Lastly, trim your celery stalks and slice them at a 45 degree angle if you wanna be cute, it really doesn’t matter lol. Set aside. 

The best way is to cook the vegetables in batches since they all vary in thickness etc.

On medium high heat, start by adding in a tiny bit of oil to a wok and sprinkle in a little bit of the minced garlic. Let saute untill aromatic ~ 1-2 mins, and then add in the broccoli, giving it a quick toss, and adding 2-3 tbsp of water to let it steam. Leave covered for ~3 minutes, then flip/mix, and steam for another 3 minutes. Season with some white and black pepper, remove and set aside. It is okay if the vegetables are slightly on the al dente side (I prefer crisp than mushy) because they will finish cooking in the sauce at the end. 

Next, using the same method, heat up some oil and saute a pinch of minced garlic. Add in julienned carrots and bell peppers. Toss, add water and then cover to steam. Repeat the same thing you did with the broccoli and then set aside. 

Almost there baby I promise, once again repeat this process, but with the celery and cabbage. Set aside.

Once you have cooked all of your vegetables, drain the noodles. They should be soft and bouncy, almost al dente like. They will finish cooking on the stove with the sauce!

Now we are going to make the sauce in the same wok. On medium heat, add in some oil, the rest of the minced garlic, and white ends of the green onion. Saute untill aromatic and then add in the light soy sauce, brown sugar, hoisin, sesame oil, and season with white and black pepper. Mix untill sauce is incorporated.

Add in all of your sweet potato noodles and veggies. Carefully, continue mixing from bottom to top untill all the sauce is evenly distributed, and let simmer for ~ 5 minutes. Mixing halfway. 

Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. 

I feel comforted when eating Japchae, I hope you enjoy, and share it with those around you. 


xx,
kale