Fast Recipes

Korean stir-fried noodles (japchae)

There's plenty of vegetables and Shaoxing-flavour in this quick Korean noodle dish.

By Lisa Featherby
  • Serves 4
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Korean stir-fried noodles

Ingredients

  • 500 gm sweet potato starch noodles (see note)
  • 80 ml vegetable oil (1/3 cup)
  • ½ onion, thinly sliced
  • 600 gm (about 1/3) Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 100 gm black fungus, sliced
  • 100 gm shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 20 gm piece of ginger, cut into julienne
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 125 ml soy sauce (½ cup)
  • 60 ml Shaoxing wine (¼ cup)
  • 60 ml honey (¼ cup)
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • Sesame salt (see note) and thinly sliced salad onion, to serve

Method

Main
  • 1
    Cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender (2-4 minutes). Drain and set aside.
  • 2
    Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat until smoking, add onion and stir-fry until translucent (2-3 minutes). Remove from wok and set aside. Heat 2 tbsp remaining oil in wok, add cabbage and mushrooms and stir-fry until tender (2-3 minutes). Remove from wok and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok, add ginger and garlic, stir-fry until fragrant (2-3 seconds), then add soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, honey, sugar and sesame oil, and stir occasionally until reduced by half (3-5 minutes). Add noodles, onion and cabbage mixture to wok, season to taste with freshly ground pepper and toss to warm through (1-2 minutes). Serve scattered with sesame salt and salad onion to taste.

Notes

Sweet potato starch noodles are available from Asian supermarkets; if they're unavailable substitute thin dried rice noodles or mung bean noodles (the cooking time and texture of the noodles will vary). Sesame salt is a mixture of 1 tbsp crushed roasted sesame seeds and 1 tsp sea salt.