Skinnymixer’s Japchae (Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry) features in the Takeaway section of the cookbook SkinnyAsia 2.
Chewy noodles, tender beef, colourful vegetables and a glossy sweet and savoury sesame sauce… there’s a lot to love about Japchae.
This Korean noodle stir fry is delicious served warm or cold and is a brilliant way to pack plenty of vegetables into dinner.
What You Will Need
For the complete quantities, see the recipe in SkinnyAsia 2.
For the sauce:
- Dried shiitake mushrooms – you can get these from the supermarket
- Garlic
- Soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos
- Brown or coconut sugar
- Chinese cooking wine or cooking sake (or Dry sherry)
- Sesame oil
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
For the stir fry:
- Beef steak
- Light-tasting cooking oil
- Capsicum
- Carrot
- Brown onion
- Fresh shiitake mushrooms
- Korean sweet potato glass noodles
- Spinach or baby spinach
To serve:
- Toasted white sesame seeds
What Noodles Do I Need for Japchae?
Look for Korean sweet potato noodles, often labelled dangmyeon or sweet potato glass noodles.
They’re made from sweet potato starch and become translucent and wonderfully chewy when cooked.
You’ll usually find them at Asian or Korean grocers and increasingly in the international aisle of larger supermarkets. If you can’t find them, rice noodles will work too.
Hot or Cold?
Both!
Japchae can be enjoyed warm or cold, which also makes it a great option for leftovers or lunches.
If you’re serving leftovers cold, give everything a good toss first so the sauce is evenly distributed through the noodles.
Dietary & Recipe Variations
LOW CARB
Use konjac noodles, replace the carrot with shredded cabbage and use compliant sweetener.
SUPER SKINNY
Halve the sugar and sesame oil and choose the lower amount of lean beef, chicken breast or lean pork.
PALEO
Use the substitutions provided in SkinnyAsia 2, including zoodles or shredded cabbage instead of sweet potato noodles.
VEGETARIAN
Replace the beef with pressed extra-firm tofu and double the fresh shiitake mushrooms.
LOW FODMAP
Omit the garlic, garlic powder and onion powder. Use garlic-infused olive oil, oyster mushrooms and spring onion greens as specified in the book.
HALVED / DOUBLED
The recipe can be halved. For a double batch, cook it in two batches so you don’t overcrowd the wok.
Get the Recipe
The complete Japchae (Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry) recipe, including Thermo cooker and conventional sauce preparation and all dietary variations, is available in SkinnyAsia 2.
From the Testing Team
- Deb D. – Love sweet potato noodles. I left out the Shitake as not a fan the sauce is delish and perfect amount
- Kaz M. – Made with 500g of beef mince cos i had it in the fridge and needed to use it up. YUMMMMMM delicious! So super quick, easy, healthy and budget! Will be on high rotation this one!
- Val W. – I had never heard of this dish before this book, but wow!! What flavour! Unfortunately I didn’t have fresh shittake mushrooms , so I reconstituted what dried ones I had left
- Amanda E. – This sauce is amazing!!! I really didn’t think this was going to be enough to feed the 5 of us, but there was plenty! Unfortunately the kids didn’t love the texture of the noodles, we’ve never tried them before, but I liked them.
- Julie H. – Paleo version done tonight Super delicious I would like to try it with these sweet potato noodles but the Paleo version was delicious very filling
- Eleni S.- So fast. So tasty. I made some veg subs based on what was in the fridge and of course it worked well. Great flavour.
- Mel C. – I’ve never heard of this dish before, but I really liked it. Wasn’t sure how the noodles would go because they looked quite similar to vermicelli, which we don’t like, but they were the best part according to my husband.
Some other Thermomix Noodle recipes you might love:
Want to know more about SkinnyAsia 2 cookbook?
SkinnyAsia 2 is a collection of Thermomix & Conventional cooking recipes. All of our cookbooks have a strong focus on Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Egg Free, Low Carb, Paleo, Vegetarian and Low FODMAP.
Ingredients
- 300-500 g beef steak
- brown sugar
- Chinese cooking wine
- dried shiitake mushrooms
- light tasting oil
- sesame oil
- soy sauce
- sweet potato noodles
- garlic
- brown onion
- capsicum
- carrot
- shiitake mushrooms
- spinach
- cracked black pepper
- garlic powder
- toasted white sesame seeds
- onion powder
Instructions
- This recipe is exclusive to the SkinnyAsia 2 cookbook.
FAQs
Are sweet potato glass noodles the same as rice noodles?
No. Korean sweet potato noodles, or dangmyeon, are made from sweet potato starch and have a distinctive translucent appearance and chewy texture. For the best Japchae, look specifically for noodles labelled Korean sweet potato noodles or dangmyeon.
Can Japchae be eaten cold?
Yes! Japchae is delicious served warm or cold, making leftovers great for lunch the next day. Give the noodles a good toss before serving so the sauce and vegetables are evenly distributed.