Glass Noodles with Korean Style Beef and Vegetables
This Korean dish Jap Chae is a staple for Korean cuisine, and it’s wonderful made at home. Full of vegetables and flavor, it’s perfect for a special dinner.
This is the last of my Korean recipes from when my mama visited, and it’s a good one to end with. Have you ever had sweet potato starch noodles before? They are clear, are often called glass noodles, and are used a lot in asian cooking. I know they are noodles, but that’s about all they have in common with their dry Italian counterparts, because they really taste nothing like what’s in your box of DeCecco pasta. But they also don’t really taste like sweet potatoes. They’re one of those things you just have to try, because it’s darned tasty, and tastes like nothing else.
The nice thing about this dish too is it’s one of those “clean out your fridge” dishes. You can put whatever vegetables you would like in here, though the ones I included are the most traditional.
Glass Noodles with Korean Style Beef and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound glass noodles available at asian supermarkets
- 1/2 a medium yellow onion sliced into strips
- 2 cups spinach packed
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 carrots julienned
- 1 sweet bell pepper
- 8 oz package baby bella mushrooms
- 1/2 pound top sirloin fillet marinated bulgogi style
- vegetable oil
- sesame seeds
- pine nuts for garnish optional
- a fried egg for garnish optional
Instructions
- Sort of like with the kim bap Korean rice rolls, you are preparing a bunch of vegetables separately, then combining them at the end.
- Slice the mushrooms about 1/4 inch thick, then cook them in a screaming hot skillet (high heat) with 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and some salt and pepper. Cook for just 2-3 minutes until they have softened a bit.
- Julienne the peppers, and cook them over medium high heat with 1 tbsp vegetable oil and salt and pepper for about 5 minutes (whenever they are softened. If you have a gas stove, this will probably take less time).
- Repeat with the onions, carrots, and beef until all the components have been cooked (it can all be cooked in the same pan, but cook them separately).
- The veggies and beef are all done, so it’s time to cook the noodles in some seriously salty boiling water. Glass noodles typically take a while, even though they’re thin. It should take 12-13 minutes until it’s al dente.
- Whisk together the soy sauce and sugar in a skillet set over medium high heat, and add all the vegetables and beef in. Drain your noodles, and add them to the party. Garnish with some sesame seeds and pinenuts, and toss. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
17 Comments on “Glass Noodles with Korean Style Beef and Vegetables”
Made this last night! It was just right for me, but my husband likes his asian food on the spicier side; would you suggest any spices in particular to compliment this dish (sriracha, crushed red pepper, etc.)?
Also, when you fry the beef, do you dump in all the marinade with it, or do you drain it? I always struggle with stirfrying marinated beef because it seems to just simmer in liquid. Maybe my heat is too low?
Hi Mandy, Yay, that’s awesome! I think sriracha would be perfect in here, or maybe some asian hot chili sauce. You should drain the beef of most of the marinade (some carryover liquid will come with the beef, and that’s fine). I will add that note to the recipe, sorry that wasn’t clear. Definitely if you want to get a sear on your beef, put the heat up really high, otherwise the liquid comes out of the beef and sticks around and steams the meat, whereas if the heat is super high, the instant the liquid comes out of the beef, it will evaporate, so the beef can brown.
My neighbour made this dish for us and since then my 11 year old has been begging me to make it too. I adored the glass noodles (plus they looked really cool). I’m definitely making this.
I sent you some Buzz too. 🙂
Laurie@TheBakingBookworm
Thanks, this is an awesome recipe! My 13 year old LOVES glass noodle (ok, ANY noodle), so this is on my TO DO list.
Thanks!
YAY let me know how it goes Shelby!
Gorgeous! I love all the colors in this, plus I really like glass noodles. Looks awesome!
Thanks! It’s all thanks to my momma =)
This is awesome!
My mom just made some chap chae for dinner just now! yay for korean food!
Oh my gosh! That makes me so happy. Most people have not tried Korean food at all, and it is hard to explain/describe to people, isn’t it?
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Awww thank you Emily! How nice! Now it’s time to give mine out =)
What do the glass noodles resemble in terms of texture? I’m really curious. I haven’t played around much with any Asian noodles, but this is intriguing…
I also like that this recipe has ingredients that any of us readers might have on hand, for the most part. It makes Asian cooking less daunting!
Hm….how to describe them. It’s difficult to explain…but they are sort of slippery. They also have a lot more “chew” than italian dry pasta.
Any tips on getting good consistent (not falling apart) specialty oriental noodles? I’ve always had trouble with things like soba, potato and other starch noodles?
Jeff, are you having trouble with them falling apart after you cook them? Like trouble them the strands breaking? Or something else? Just trying to find out exactly what you mean. Let me know.
Looks great! I struggle with the stickiness of glass noodles, managed against my desire to keep things low fat with a light hand on the oil. Thoughts?
Sam, I am so impressed that you have worked with glass noodles! Bonus points! Unfortunately my mom and I don’t have any suggestions really for the stickiness. It’s just in their nature. Of course more oil helps (but like you said, excess oil is not wanted), and adding veggies/beef to sort of break it up. After you drain them get it into the pan with the veggies/beef really quickly, as they will clump up almost immediately.