Japchae Noodles
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 40 minutes soaking time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6 people
- 50g/1.7ozs dried shiitake mushrooms
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3.5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 100g/3.5ozs baby spinach
- 340g/12ozs. sweet potato noodles
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 white or brown onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchstick pieces
- 1/2 red capsicum or whole bullhorn pepper, cut into matchstick pieces
- 3 sticks green onions, trimmed of the root and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Step 1 - Soak the shiitake mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes. Then drain and discard the stalks and then slice thinly. Soak for an additional 10 minutes in boiling water. Drain.
Step 2 - Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and dark soy sauce together until the brown sugar becomes syrupy. Place 2 tablespoons of this sauce into the drained mushrooms, mix and set aside.
Step 3 - Add some oil to a frying pan and fry the beaten eggs as a thin, flat omelette (I don't bother flipping it over). Place it on a chopping board to cool, then cut it into quarters and then into strips.
Step 4 - In the same pan fry the onion until softened and then place into a very large bowl. Then fry the carrot until softened but not too soft (you want a bit of texture to these), remove and place in the bowl with the onion then fry the capsicum and repeat. Lastly fry the green onions and garlic together for a minute and add the mushrooms and egg slices in the bowl together.
Step 5 - Place a large pot of water onto boil and cook the baby spinach removing them with tongs and draining well (squeeze to remove the water). Add the noodles and boil for 5 minutes (6 minutes if you're eating them the next day) or according to directions. Drain and coat in the sauce immediately. Add to the bowl with the vegetables, mushrooms and egg and toss to combine.