Kreamy Vegan

A little about Japchae

In many traditional Korean celebrations, such as festivals like Chuseok, holidays, and birthdays, japchae holds a special place on the Korean dining table. Japchae is characterized by its harmonious blend of flavors. The sweet and savory soy-based sauce adds depth, while sesame oil infuses a delightful nutty aroma. Garlic and sweetener provide a hint of sweetness, while sesame seeds add a pleasant crunch. It is one of the Korean dishes that many foreigners love, so I made these japchae noodles for a few of my Norwegian friends. I’ve developed this japchae recipe with many considerations in mind and am excited to share it with you.

Kreamy Vegan’s Japchae Recipe Key Points

1. Japchae with rice (with and without glass noodles!)

Usually, this dish features chewy glass noodles called “dangmyeon”, stir-fried with colorful vegetables, and meat seasoned with savory-sweet sauce, but I’d like to share a slightly different version of japchae. The recipe I will share with you is vegan japchae-bap. Bap translates to rice in Korean, so it is japchae with rice instead of glass noodles made from sweet potato starch. I try to avoid pure starch as it doesn’t have fiber and nutrition that are intact with whole food plant-based. However, even in this Japchae-bap, you could include some glass noodles into the stir-fry vegetables and eat it together with some rice.

2. Plant-based meat or mushroom

Traditionally, pork has been used for this recipe or some lean beef. But you can completely remove that from the recipe and only stir-fry vegetables and mushrooms, as the meat in the recipe is not something that adds more to the flavor. It is more to give texture to this recipe; therefore, I love using some plant-based meat, like flat soy bits. You can even use extra-firm tofu as an alternative to meat.

3. More Mushrooms

Usually, shiitake mushrooms are used in this recipe. It gives umami flavor to this dish, so it is one of the most important ingredients in making japchae. But you could also use some wood-ear mushrooms with a fascinating texture. But wood ear mushrooms don’t have the strong umami flavor and smell like shiitake mushrooms, so I’ve used both of these wonderful mushrooms in the recipe to get both flavors and textures!

4. Healthier Choice of Sweetener

I almost never use sugar in my recipe. It has no nutritional value, but more importantly, it spikes your blood sugar, which leads to a higher appetite and easier weight gain.  In my recipe here, I used date syrup instead. Date syrup has antioxidants and some fiber to keep your blood sugar in check and the dark color and gloss from date syrup make the dish look more appetizing.

Kreamy Vegan

Vegan Japchae-Bap Recipe

A Festive Sweet and Savory Dish from Korea

Print Recipe

Servings: 4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Korean

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 medium Red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 medium Yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 cup Carrots (or 2 medium size carrots) thinly sliced
• 1 large Onion thinly sliced
• 300 g Spinach
• 3 Dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in water
• 3 Dried wood ear mushrooms soaked in water
• 50 g Dried soy bits (Optional) soaked in water
• 100 g Dangmyeon (Optional) soaked in lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Japchae sauce

• 20 g garlic (about 4 cloves)
• 4 tbsp Date syrup
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sesame oil

Method

 

1. In each bowl, have shiitake mushroom, ear mushroom, soy bits, and dangmyeon in the water and leave it for 30 minutes. Use lukewarm water for dangmyeon to be hydaratedfaster.
2. In a large pan, heat sesame oil and stir-fry thinly sliced carrots. Season lightly with salt. Set aside once the carrots are tender and cooked.
3. Stir-fry onions. Season lightly with salt. Set aside with the carrots. Repeat the same instruction with the bell peppers.
4. Drain the water from the mushrooms, stir-fry, and season with salt until done.
5. Squeeze the water out of the soy bits, and thinly slice. Marinate the soy bits with a tablespoon of soy sauce and date syrup. Then Stir-fry and set aside.
6. Add all the cooked ingredients into the large pan, and the spinach. You can include the optional dangmyeon now. Cook everything together with the remaining sauce ingredients until the spinach is cooked and withered.
7. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.
8. Garnish it with toasted sesame seeds and serve it with a bowl of rice.

Notes

Tips

• Making japchae may seem daunting at first with so many ingredients, but it really is all about stir-frying each ingredient and combining it all together with the sauce. If stir-frying each ingredient separately seems like a lot of work, you can also throw all the ingredients together into the pan. Cooking every single individual ingredient separately gives you more control over how much you’d like to have your ingredients cooked and seasoned, but your time and effort are also precious!
• Date syrup is not a traditional ingredient in Korean cuisine, but I love the round beautiful sweetness of date syrup. Also, it gives a darker color to the japchae and makes it look more appetizing. But you can choose oligosaccharide or plum syrup to have it the traditional way. Or choose the sweetener of your choice.

Summary of Vegan Korean Japchae-Bap Recipe

Tada! Now you have your japchae. Look at the burst of beautiful colors—red, orange, yellow, green, and brown—it’s so festive just looking at those colors! It’s surely a festival in and of itself. The gloss from the date syrup and some oil make it luscious too. It is understandable how this glossy and colorful dish is often part of the menu at a festival or celebration in South Korea. The various colors in vegetables also signify different nutrients so eat this delicious food as much as you want! Enjoy.

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