Japchae - Korean Noodles

It's a common knowledge (should be classified as general info :p) that we, Filipinos, love to eat - be it our native dishes, American, Italian or Chinese.. any cuisine, that is! I, myself, enjoy food a lot but among all there is, I love Pan-Asian the most!! :)

Just last Saturday the kids' mom showed me how to cook one of their favorite noodle dish:
Japchae 잡채 and here are the photos from that culinary experience!
*Perhaps you would want to see the family once again..
http://kharensarroza.blogspot.com/2012/03/meet-parks-photography-01.html

Ingredients:
Japchae Noodles (Dang myeon 당면 - sweet potato noodles)
Korean version of glass noodles or sort of vermicelli and it's a bit sweet!

Mushrooms, 3 kinds:
Shitake, soaked in warm water
King mushroom (that big and white kind),
Family mushroom (not sure of the name..)

Beef - strips soaked (to remove the smell) in
vinegar + black pepper + rock salt + ginger powder
Oil for stir frying the beef

Vegetables: Julienned.
Onion
Green or spring onion
Carrots (but we totally forgot about it)
Spinach (she said, paprika is an alternative, not really sure)
bell pepper

Julienne is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Sometimes called 'shoe string', e.g. 'shoestring fries'. - Wikipedia

Dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water.
I love this kind of mushroom. It's really flavorful. I swear!
You can get it at Spinneys, Carrefour or any other oriental stores in Karama if you're in Dubai.

King Oyster Mushroom (left), another kind of mushroom - clamshell/family mushroom (right) I think..

This is the other kind of mushroom which I am not sure of the name..
So just help yourself and remember what it looks like X)

Cleaning the onion and mushrooms..
This was actually my first time to see how the cleaning is done.
That means, I have never tried cooking dishes with mushrooms other than shitake
and the canned ones! So..You have to cut off the bottom part of the mushroom - rightmost photo.

Cleaning the spinach.
I have long been curious how to prepare spinach that I've looked it up on youtube
and several other sites but I actually never got the chance to try it myself.
I've always loved that spinach side dish served in Korean restaurants - so much,
that I would ask for another serving! LOL

Looks very fresh and green.. ~ Looks good for your health!!
The kids' mom actually has a 'nutritionist certificate'. And, indeed,
it shows by the way she prepares her family's food. 

Julienning green onions.
I would have to say that the knives we used were really sharp and light.
I noticed and so I told her. She said that for moms, it's really important to invest in
good utensils and pots and everything else in the kitchen!!! "You will know.."
..she let me try to julienne the onions and it took me ages to make it as good and as quick as hers!

Yes! She was cooking all at once!! Have I mentioned? She was really fast!
I panicked! I couldn't think of how to set the camera and how to take pictures!
I had a pen and paper with me for taking notes in addition to the camera.
However,I was supposed to be taught, so I must also do my share.
That meant, I had to do the cutting too!
What's more? The kids! They kept on talking to me and
kept on asking me questions during the entire process..
Now you see, I had the right to panick! :p

Top: Cooking the beef strips. She used very little oil to stir fry the beef strips!
She said that she is not fond of frying food - in fact, most of them are not.
The second photo: The noodles were cooked the usual way.
Bottom: In the boiling water, the spinach was briefly soaked and then taken out.

Spinach.. almost done! After having been briefly soaked in boiling water,
it was washed with running water and then the water was squeezed out.
Then, with the spinach on the bowl, put a pinch of rock salt and a dash of sesame oil.
That's the side dish that I was talking about! Simple but healthy and delicious!
...although this time, it will be mixed with the noodles.

With the beef almost done, put in the vegetables except spinach.

Next, the shitake mushrooms.

Then, the rest of the mushrooms.

What do they use to add flavor in their food?
Soysauce, rock salt, a bit of sugar or honey, oyster sauce and
'abalone' sauce (pictured on the right; it can be bought in oriental stores)

Here you go!! It's almost done!

To top it up, there's "omu" or fish cake. She said that it's usually fried but
she prefers to just run boiling water onto it. It tastes like tempura - only flat.
It was also cut into strips.
By the way, that strainer is amazing! I'd get one if I see one!
Did you notice the "blade-like" side?
It opens wider depending on the size of the container where you put it.

And there's egg!!! Scrambled egg cut into strips too!

She can flip the egg!! And, I cannot!!

Those are my fingers!!! Why mention?
Because when I was helping her prepare the vegetables,
she saw the back of my hand. My fingers were wounded
because of the hand washing of clothes which I did earlier. I was embarassed.
She advised me to ALWAYS wear gloves and keep my hands pretty. OMG.

The finished product! :) Delicious, as always :) 
If you happen to know a Korean restaurant,
please try it some time. They really have good food!!! :) Honestly.



There you go!! I hope this post makes up for the idle weeks in here!
Please visit again soon.. and, thank you!