Jap Chae - Korean Stirfried Noodles

I make no claims to the authenticity of this, but I think it's close to authentic. I cobbled it together from reading a bunch of different Jap Chae recipes in books and online. With almost everything I cook, I cook by taste so I don't have any measurements for any of the seasonings.

Also, I was lacking in a lot of vegetables so the picture above only has shiitake mushrooms, cloud ear fungus (aka black Chinese fungus or wood ear fungus), nappa cabbage green onions and garlic. The stuff on the right are homemade scallion pancakes.

The noodles are made with a specific type of Korean vermicelli made from sweet potatoes. I don't think it's advisable to try and substitute another type of vermicelli for it since the sweet potato vermicelli holds up a lot better than rice or mung bean vermicelli.

Jap Chae

- 1 pkg Korean vermicelli (sweet potato vermicelli)
- vegetable oil (for cooking)
- various vegetables (choose whatever you want): minced garlic, sliced yellow onions, diced green onions, sliced mushrooms (regular and/or shiitake), sliced cloud ear fungus, fresh spinach, chopped nappa cabbage, thinly sliced red pepper, thinly sliced carrots
- soy sauce (use Japanese soy, not dark Chinese soy)
- sugar
- salt & pepper
- toasted sesame oil
- mirin or rice vinegar
- gochujang (Korean red pepper paste, optional)
- toasted sesame seeds (for garnish, optional)

1. Cook noodles in boiling water until al dente (about 5-10 mins — check after 5 minutes). Rinse under cold water and drain well. Snip noodles into about 6" pieces (if you don't they will be too long and hard to handle). Toss with some soy sauce and sesame oil and set aside (it's easiest to use your hands to toss).
   
   
2. In a large pan, heat up the oil and throw in your various vegetables, some soy sauce, sugar, salt & pepper, sesame oil, mirin and gochujang (if using). While the vegetables are cooking in the seasonings, taste and adjust. You basically want to add enough of each ingredient to make a bit of a stirfry sauce because you'll be coating the noodles with the mixture. Taste-wise you want a good balance of all the ingredients to your liking.
   
   
3. When the vegetables are done to how you prefer, toss the noodles in and stir up everything well. Taste and adjust seasonings again during the stirring/tossing. It's pretty much done when the noodles are warmed up again, well coated and mixed and seasoned to your liking.
   
   
4. Remove from heat, plate and top with toasted sesame seeds.