Chapchae

Chapchae is the most popular noodle dish in Korea. I adapted this recipe from my favorite source, Cooking Light 2004 cookbook. It’s a little more labor intensive than most of the recipes I’ve posted – but it’s so tasty and well worth the extra work.

Beef:
1 Tbls cornstarch
8 oz eye of round steak, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 Tbls soy sauce, I like low-sodium
2 tsp Thai curry paste
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 tsp dark sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

Place beef in a bowl and sprinkle cornstarch over it; toss to combine. Add remaining ingredients; toss well to coat. Cover and set aside while preparing other ingredients. Can marinate anywhere from 15 – 60 minutes.

Noodles:
3.75 oz package uncooked bean threads (cellophane noodles)

Pour boiling water over noodles; let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Drain. Snip noodles several times with kitchen shears in order to shorten the length making it easier to too add to beef/vegetable mixture and for serving.

Sauce Ingredients:
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbls brown sugar
1 Tbls rice vinegar
1 Tbls dark sesame oil
Optional: 1 Tbls sesame seeds, toasted to be sprinkled over finished dish

Mix the liquid ingredients and set aside.

Vegetables:
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp vegetable oil
½ tsp red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
3 cups of shitake mushrooms, sliced. (I use the dried variety and reconstitute in boiling water. But, if you can get or prefer fresh – that would be fantastic too!)
1 bunch of green onions, diagonally sliced into 2” pieces
1 cup julienned carrots, 2” pieces

Directions:

Heat large nonstick skillet or wok coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Add beef mixture; stir fry for 5 minutes – or until almost done. You don’t want to overcook as the beef will become tough. Remove mixture from pan. Cover and keep warm.

Add 1 tsp sesame oil & 1 tsp vegetable oil to pan. Add red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger; stir fry for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, green onions and carrots; stir fry for 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium low; add beef mixture and noodles to pan, stirring well to combine.

Whisk the sauce mix to assure it is well combined; add to pan. Stir well to combine; cook for approximately 3 more minutes to warm through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.