JapChae (μ‘μ±) is a traditional Korean holiday food. You need special Cellophane Noodles called “Dang Myun” in Korean. The way to cook this food is a little complex but the delicious taste will reward your time and effort for cooking. If you are a vegetarian, you can skip the beef. π
Yield: 4 Servings
Short Korean Lesson
- NahmJah (λ¨μ) = Male
- YeoJah (μ¬μ) = Female
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- β Carrot
- Β½ Onion
- β Sweet Pepper (Optional)
- 2 Eggs (Optional)
- Olive Oil
- Salt & Black Pepper
Beef Ingredients
- 1 Cup Beef
- Β½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
- Β½ Tbsp Cooking Wine
- 1 tsp Garlic
- 1Β½ tsp Sugar
- A pinch of Black Pepper
Mushroom Ingredients
- 3 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
- 1Β½ tsp Soy Sauce
- Β½ tsp Sugar
- ΒΌ tsp Garlic
Spinach Ingredients
Noodles Ingredients
- 1 Handful (4.6 oz) Cellophane Noodles (Dang Myun)
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- Β½ Tbsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Seasoning Ingredients
- 1Β½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
- β tsp Black Pepper
Directions
Cut about 4.6 oz (1 cup) of beef thinly.
In a small bowl, mix the beef, Β½ Tbsp of soy sauce, Β½ Tbsp of cooking wine, 1 tsp of garlic, 1Β½ tsp of sugar, and 1 pinch of black pepper. Set it aside for at least 30 minutes.
Soak 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in the water for 3 hours, and then squeeze out the water.
Remove the stems and slice the mushrooms thinly.
In a bowl, mix the mushrooms, 1Β½ tsp of soy sauce, Β½ tsp of sugar, and ΒΌ tsp of garlic. Set it aside.
Add 3 oz of spinach in boiling water with some salt to keep the color green. Boil for about 30 seconds, and then rinse in cold water.
Squeeze out the water.
Mix the boiled spinach, 1 tsp of soy sauce, and Β½ tsp of sugar. Set it aside.
Cut Β½ of an onion thinly. Julienne β of a carrot thinly. Slice β of a sweet pepper thinly.
In boiling water, add the noodles and boil for 11 minutes. Drain the water.
Fry the carrot for 10 seconds with a little salt.
In a nonstick pan, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil, then add the noodles and stir them. Add 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, Β½ Tbsp of sugar. Fry for 2 minutes or until the noodles are evenly colored by the soy sauce.
Cool the noodles. This makes the combination of colors and flavors be good and the noodles will be shiny.
To get better color for this dish: Separate the egg yokes and egg whites, and add 1 pinch of salt for each one. Beat the eggs. Fry and slice them thinly.
Fry the marinated beef until it is completely cooked.
Fry the marinated mushrooms until they are completely cooked.
In a lightly oiled pan, fry the onion for 20 seconds on high with a little bit of salt. Fry the sweet pepper and carrot for 10 seconds with a little salt.
In a large bowl, mix all of the noodles, vegetables, and meat.
Add 1Β½ Tbsp of soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of sesame oil, 1 Tbsp of sugar, 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds, and β tsp of black pepper.
Mix all of the ingredients together.
Wow, this looks very pretty and delicious. Enjoy! π
I always have a little bit of trouble with making japchae π From watching your clear steps, perhaps next time I will get it perfect!! Thank you!
Hi, Jeff
Nice to meet you !!! Yes, I can understand that. JapChae is kind of complex food to make.. hehe I hope you can make very delicious japchae without much problem next time. Let me know. Good luck ~~~ hehe Merry Christmas. π
Love yr site. Thanks for the wonderful and delicious recipes. Will be making this dish soon…..Hopefully it turns out like yours. Thanks again and Happy New Year!!
Hi, Jeanette
Nice to meet you !!! You are very welcome. Yes, I’m sure it will turn out great… maybe better than mine. π Thanks !! HAPPY NEW YEAR ~~~
Hi Aeri,
I made this noodles today. Thanks so much for putting it up with very clear instructions. Truly appreciate it. Everyone thought it was made by my sis-in-law(her hubby’s korean). Everyone praised and said the noodles were excellent without knowing I made it. Thanks once again and will try more of your recipes pretty soon. Happy Chinese New Year!! God Bless!!
Hi, Jeanette
oh..Did you ?? I hope it wasn’t too bad (difficult) to make. You did a wonderful job since everybody thought your japchae was authentic. π Yes, please try more recipes. Happy New Year !! God bless you π
p.s wow.. your sister in law’s husband is a Korean. so some how, you are also related with Korea. hehe I like it.
I really like that you make videos of the recipe because it helps me visualize what it’s supposed to look like. I made this last night, vegetarian and without the green peppers. It turned out pretty well, but next time I’ll add the beef and pepper. Thanks again for your recipes!
Hi, Andrea
Yes, sometimes I feel like it’s difficult to make a video and take pictures at the same time..and feel lazy … but your comment encouraged me again to do my best for both video and blog. I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed your jap chae. yep..with beef and pepper your jap chae will be even more delicious next time. Thanks !!
I made this again because I really enjoyed it before, but this time I added the beef and green peppers. I also added a little more sugar because for some reason I like it sweeter! I will have to say that I like the vegetarian version better, but the recipe as a whole is delicious. I’m going to make it for my sister’s birthday along with your kimbap, which she requested! Thanks again for your recipes, they are much appreciated. Next on my list, crab stick jeon.
Hi, Andrea
Oops..I was wrong.. I said.. beef and pepper will make your jap chae more delicious..hehe jap chae and kimbap.. sounds very good !!!! I hope you and your sister will enjoy kimbap also. Thanks !!!!
haha.. good luck for crab stick too..:)
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Hi, vinent
Nice to meet you !!
Thank you very much for your comment.
I just stopped at your site.. I didn’t look much,,but I can see you have a great website for cooking.
Maybe people who visit my site can get useful information for cooking from your site too.
Yes..I will check it out again..and think of what you suggested.
Thanks for visiting again.
Bye~~~
Dear Aeri,
Thank you very much for your great work.My english not so good and i can’t explain in a all way how much i found this wedsite useful to me and of course such yummy recipes:)my husband and two years old daughter love them. Thank you so so much!!! I think your husband very lucky to have such beautiful and talented wife:)
Hi, Anya
My English is not good either..but I think yours is fine. It’s great that your husband and little daughter love Korean food. wow… 2 years old girl eat Korean food..that’s cool~~~ it must be not spicy one..right ?? hehe.. Thanks for your sweet comment !!!
Hi Aeri! I finally found some time to make japchae and it was a hit with my extended family. My dad particularly likes the dang myun and now insists we use it with almost everything! Thanks again for another great recipe!
hi, crzycpl
Wow, you tried it and liked it. I’m v~~~ery happy…hehe thanks I hope you can find more Korean food you can enjoy from my blog. π Have a great week..
This looks delicous hehe
But I am still confusing whether if I can cook this as well for my birthday or something else… or just mini fried chicken with rice and spaghetti hehe I dunno what to cook on my birthday hehe because it’s so hard to choose from hehe
Hi Ian aka filoguy2009,
haha… make it easy. You can just make one and try other things later when you have time. π I can’t wait to see how it turns out.. hehe
ah! thank you for the recipe I just made it The otehr time i followed another persons recipe.. it was so BLAND!!! i love ur recipe. come see the picture if you want on my webiste =]
OH SORRY my website is : http://www.flickr.com/photos/14689212@N08/
Hi Judy,
oh… I visited your site.. You made me hungry so bad ~~~ hehe good job.. your kimbap looked delicious too. Thanks for sharing the picture with me. I’m very happy… π
oh ! heehee
I think grandma tried to teach Song Hye Kyo in Full House to make this dish~!! =PP Hmm looks super delicious!! Maybe i will try to make this one day !! XD
Hi Annie,
lol I remember that scene too. ^^ Try it please ~~~ π
Hello Aeri!! ^^
for this JapChae.. if I dont use the meat (which is a main ingredients) then do oyu think It will still be ok? I want to make this for my grandpa<3 and e cannot eat any red meats and some other foods.. ! T____T hope he feels better soon !^^
hi Annie,
Oh.. how sweet granddaughter you are !!! Yes, you can skip the meat if he can’t eat.. if he can eat oyster mushroom..that can be good substitute though.. I hope he feels better soon too.
I made japchae recently for my friends and they loved it! One of them is korean and said it tasted authentic. I’ll definitely make your japchae again.
Hi Samantha,
authentic… hehe that’s real compliment.. thanks π yep try it again.
Hi Aeri,
I just tried cooking this for the first time today, and it turn out great. I’m so happy. Thanks for keeping such a great blog, it has been a inspiration for me to try korean cooking!
hi Janice,
That’s awesome.. hehe thanks π
I just found your website yesterday and tried to make this dish tonight. It is absolutely beautiful! It was so nice that I asked my husband to get some for my mother in law! Thanks a lot!
Hi Yen,
Nice to meet you. Thanks for trying my recipe.. hehe
oh..so your husband is a Korean?
No, sorry to make you misunderstand. My husband is Italian but he was born in Australia. My mother in law used to be Italian food teacher, so I just let her try my best food :). But my sister in law is Korean, I will cook this dish for her when she come back to Australia (she is in England now).
Thanks again Aeri, I am so glad to find this website π
Hi Yen,
Oh~~ your sister in law is a Korean..hehe..wow.. you can learn many delicious Italian food from your mother in law then.. cool ~~~ I’m happy to meet you too.. Hope to see you more often. thanks
Hi Aeri,
I wonder, when I prepare Jap Chae, do I need to eat on the one goal or I can keep in the refrigerator latter on. If yes, how long?
Thx
hi Kris,
The taste will be the best when it’s fresh.. but you can keep it in the refrigerator for one or 2 days.. just you can heat it on the pan ..or microwave before you serve it. ^^
Hi Aeri! I just tried making your jap chae so I can take it to share at my church’s potluck tomorrow. Oh my goodness! It came out SO YUMMY! I remember my Korean friend from high school would sometimes share this with me. It brought back happy memories! Keep sharing the recipes! They are easy to follow and easier to eat after! I love learning how to make delicious food. π
Hi Aeri! My Korean husband had to bring a Korean dish at work to share with his colleagues. So, not being Korean, I looked up your website and made Japchae. Everyone loved it! One of my husband’s Korean colleague said that the Japchae tastes even better than her mom’s! My husband was very proud and I was very happy! Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful recipes!
hi Lilluz,
oh…I love your story..hehe I’m sure that your husband felt proud of you. Good job..hehe thanks
hi aeri! i was wondering if i can just leave the beef out, i want to try making it someday, π
hi hiro,
Yes you can ^^
Hello Aeri, Do you recommend a particular kind of meat for this recipe?
hi Cynthia,
any kind of beef part you like will work great.. if you ask my opinion.. the part doesn’t have much fat in it..and tender.. ^^
Hello Aeri, I’m planning to self-study korean cuisine this month. I would like to ask if you can help me with it. I am no professional chef but I really just like cooking and I have this great interest in Korean culture and food, of course. I wonder if you have a recipe for sweet rice cakes made during new year’s eve. Thank you.
hi Tao Hana,
sweet rice cakes during new year’s eve ?? oops..I tried to guess what it is.. but couldn’t.. do you know the name ? it’s a dessert ?? there are many different kinds of sweet rice cakes for dessert in Korea.. please let me know more detail about what you want.. thanks
I forgot the name for it. They are shaped like half-moons. Maybe not ne year. is it thanksgiving?
hi Tao Hana,
aha.. I can guess something now.. it has filling in it ??? It calls “songpyeon” it’s for Korean holiday.. called “chuseok” that’s almost like thanksgiving in Korea.. ^^
Hi! I’m so glad I found you website. You are a lifesaver for me. I have a question. Is it okay to use ground beef and omit the mushroom for Jap Chae? Thank you.
hi Young Ji,
Nice to meet you. π
You can use ground beef, just it can be more difficult to eat since it’s little pieces. You can skip the mushroom also..but if you have chance to try it with mushroom I recommend you try the mushroom in it someday also..because it gives good and unique flavor to japchae. thanks
I enjoy JapChae very much because it has plenty of vegetables in it. I hope you don’t mind, I modified it slightly to suit my taste/style of cooking.
1. Pre-soak cellophane noodles until soft. Boil in water for 1 minute or until soft. Drain well. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, a little sugar)
2. Add a little ginger juice to the beef.
3. Pre-soak dried shiitake mushroom until soft. Remove stem. Parboil lightly. Squeeze out water. Sliced thinly then soak in a water with a 1 tsp sugar in it for 10 mins. This method will make the mushroom texture smooth and tasty. Squeeze out water and add to seasoned beef. Mix evenly to allow both ingredients to absorb each other’s flavour for better taste.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing tips here. I’m still learning new things everyday too.
hi Rebecca,
Thank you very much for sharing your tip. It is good to hear new things each other. π ginger juice to the beef sounds good… maybe it also helps to get rid of bad meat flavor and give extra flavor to it.. share more tips you have with us later.. π
aeri, i just finished making this…it really is VERY yummy! i loved it ^^ i only made half and got a plateFUL of it! lucky i didnt make full recipe…i might finish them all tonight π
LOVE your website!!! I use a lot of your recipe for cooking. Your recipe is clear and easy. Thank you so much for your posting. π
Hi Aeri!
This recipe kind of like the the thai dish
called Pad Woonsen. Is it the Korean version? This recipe looks delicious and my parents just bought some cellophane noodles so I’m thinking about making this!
Keep up the awesome videos! π
hi Lisa,
I don’t know much about Thai cuisine..but.. yes.. it’s Korean food. I want to try that Thai food called Pad Woonsen also.. ^^
Aeri, I love your website. I can’t wait to make this recipe. I was wondering, could you substitute chicken for beef?
hi Hannah,
Yes, you can..but I want to recommend pork more.. if you can’t eat beef.. ^^ because pork and beef taste more match with this dish than chicken.
Hi Aeri, I just wanted to report that I was so inspired by your blog (just found it last Saturday) – that I went to a Korean market today, bought some Dang Myun, and made your JapChae tonight! I did exactly as you directed in your recipe… and came out FANTASTIC!! (to the point that I can’t believe I made it! hehe) Thank you for your awesome recipe and making me feel like cooking again.
Aeri, I love your website so much that I look at it almost everyday! Thank you SO MUCH for your awesome recipes! This, along with everything else I have tried from your site has turned out so well that I can hardly believe I made them! Kamsa-hamnida! π
I tried your recipe and it worked perfectly!!! Thanks for a great recipe!!!!
Hello Aeri, thank you for this delicious recipe. Usually I’m very bad at cooking but this time everything went well, everyone liked it π
hello aeri~
for the japchae, which part of beef do you recommend to use / which part did you use?
thanks!
hi sam-chan,
As you can see in the picture.. it is nice to use lean meat… not too much fat or other thing.. thanks
Waow!! I will try it~ it looks easy
Hi aeri I just found out about ur website n very excited to see all ur recipes π but I have a question here kinda awkward but is there a difference between Chinese, vietnamese n korean soy sauce or no, or maybe it just my taste?!
hi linh,
Nice to meet you. ^^ Yes, I think there are some slight differences between soy sauces from different countries. It can be saltness and some flavor..but not huge difference.. so you can use for Korean cooking too. I think Korean and Japanese soy sauce are most similar among them. Chinese soy sauce has dark soy sauce..and light soy sauce depending on the color and saltness..so consider that if you use them for Korean cooking. thanks
Hi Aeri,
I just discovered your website.
I’m very excited to try your recipes, because I usually buy Korean food sold very expensive here in my country.
And japjae is one of “must food” I often buy, I was glad I found you here, …… so I can start learning to cook a lot of my favorite foods π
Hi Aeri,
I love your website. Thank you for uploading lots of Korean recipes. I have a question though. I see that you use cooking wine in some of the recipes. So instead of using cooking wine, what other alternatives would you recommend?
hi Shikin,
If it’s more than 2 Tbsp of cooking wine I use in my recipe.. you can replace it to water… if it’s less than that.. you can just skip it..
I usually use cooking wine for tender..and get rid of bad flavor from meat..but it is not critical.. ^^ thanks
Hi Aeri! I just made this japchae and I really love it!
Thanks for the idea of different noodles because my husband doesn’t enjoy the glass type either.
Thanks so much for all your videos and recipes π
Hi Aeri!
I stumbled upon your website and wanted to make japchae, but I can’t seem to find the cellophane noodles in any of my grocery stores or specialty stores! Is there something else that would be a sufficient substitute?
thanks!
hi Brenda,
My husband doesn’t like this chewy cellophane noodles much. so recently I start to use different kinds of rice noodles instead for him.and he loves it. So you can try it.. just make sure that you have to reduce the saltness.. since rice noodles absorb the soy sauce more.. easier than cellophane noodles.. so it can be too salty if you use same amount for rice noodles in this recipe.. thanks
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I am Vietnamese and never made Korean dishes until I found your YouTube videos, then I found your website! My husband and sister-in-law (who are Korean) said the Jap Chae tasted like their mother’s home cooking! I really appreciate this website and how you break everything down! And the videos are helpful as well!
Thank you Aeri! We appreciate you so much!
Hi I love your recipes! Can I replace prawns and other seafood with the beef? π
Hi Ika,
Sure you can use seafood instead also. π
So I finally had the time to try japchae after wanting to for so long! I cooked it tonight for my roommate and I and my roommate couldn’t stop saying how much she loved it! It was really good. Thanks for the recipe!
hi Jackie,
That’s awesome to hear that you and your roommate enjoyed it. Thanks π
I made it for the first time and it was successful. Thanks for making it so easy to understand especially for new cooks like me. Can’t wait to try another one soon!
hi Shampoo47,
Congratulations for your first successful japcahe.. hehe.. Thanks for sharing it with me. π
How many servings does this make? I’m making this for a family of about 8…
hi Millie,
This recipe is for 4 servings.. so you can double the recipe for your family.. thanks
I made this for a party with other Korean language students and everyone loved it! Thanks for posting the recipe and video!
hi Chelsea,
Hurray !! hehe.. Thanks for your update. ^^
Hello Aeri!! It’s been a long time since I commented on one of your recipes! I hope you and your family are doing fine.
I would like to ask a question about Japchae.
When my boyfriend and I would go out and eat japechae, they would always make it a little moist. When I cooked this japchae, it was a little dry but it still tasted like japchae.
How do you get a little bit more moist japchae because my boyfriend really loves it like that I guess.. haha )
Thank you so much in advance π
hi Sammy,
You can add a little more oil or water ..when you mix everything together at the end.. like drizzle sesame oil at last… thanks
Hi Aeri! Stumbled on your blog and the recipe looks amazing! Would like to make it but would it be possible to substitute the beef with seafood? If yes, what seafood would be better? And also, what seasoning should I use?
Thanks for the recipe and hope you can give me some advice!
hi Tricia,
Sure you can use seafood also. You can just season with salt and black pepper for your seafood since other ingredients and sauce will have enough flavor for your japchae. Thanks
Hi Aeri ! Japchae is delicious. It’s the third time I make this recipe, i’d like to know if japchae can be served cold or lukerwarm? I want to cook japchae for my friene but It’s summer and it’s so hot that I was wondering if we could eat this cold….
hi Karen,
We normally eat japchae hot or warm..but it can be also room temperature.. I will not like that much when it’s cold though. ^^ Just cook some and let it cool down little bit and serve. so at least you will not eat hot noodles.. ^^ thanks
Hi Aeri, thank you for this wonderful recipe, I read the whole context and feel kinda ready to make this dish. But the tutorial video for this video is not working, I canβt watch it or search it on youtube. Hope you can fix that problem, I would love to watch you cook this dish so I can easily follow your steps. Thank uou so much, xo.