Japchae is the dish Korea brings out for a celebration. It appears at weddings, at birthdays, especially a baby's first and a parent's sixtieth, at the Lunar New Year and Chuseok tables, and in plastic boxes at every potluck, because it tastes as good at room temperature as it does hot. The name means mixed vegetables, and its story begins at the royal court in the early seventeenth century, when an official is said to have pleased King Gwanghaegun so much with a dish of stir fried vegetables and mushrooms that he was promoted for it. Few civil servants have advanced their careers so deliciously.

That court dish had no noodles at all. They arrived in the twentieth century, when glass noodles made from sweet potato starch, called dangmyeon, came to Korea from China and quickly took over the plate. Today they are the heart of japchae: slippery, chewy and translucent, soaking up a dressing of soy sauce, sugar and toasted sesame oil, and tangled with thin strips of vegetables and beef in all the colors of the Korean table.

The method is a lesson in patience rather than skill. Each ingredient is cooked separately so it keeps its own color and texture, and everything is tossed together at the end with your hands. It is a little more washing up than a one pan dinner, which is the only argument against making it, and not a strong one.

The sauce and beef

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons (75 ml) soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 oz (170 g) beef sirloin or rib eye
• 4 oz (115 g) fresh shiitake mushrooms

Method

1. In a small bowl, stir together 4 tablespoons of the soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil, the garlic and the pepper until the sugar dissolves. This is the main dressing for the noodles.
2. Put the beef and mushrooms in another bowl with 2 tablespoons of the sauce you have just made. Mix well with your fingers and leave for 15 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.

The vegetables

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) neutral oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 red bell pepper
• 4 scallions
• 8 oz (225 g) fresh spinach
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Method

1. Bring the large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the spinach and push it under for 30 seconds, then lift it out with tongs into the colander and rinse under cold water. Keep the pot of water boiling for the noodles. Squeeze the spinach firmly in your hands to remove the water, then toss with a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of the remaining sesame oil.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in the skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and stir fry for 2 minutes. Tip it into the large mixing bowl.
3. Add another teaspoon of oil and the carrot with a pinch of salt, stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes and add to the bowl. Repeat with the red pepper for 1 minute, then the scallions for 30 seconds, adding each to the bowl as it is done.
4. Add the remaining oil to the skillet, then the beef and mushrooms. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes, spreading them out, until cooked through. Add to the bowl with the vegetables, and add the spinach, pulling it apart.

The noodles and tossing

Ingredients

• 8 oz (225 g) dangmyeon (sweet potato glass noodles)
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 large egg

Method

1. Add the noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then so they do not stick together. Taste a strand at 6 minutes.
2. Drain the noodles in the colander and rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking. Shake well. Using kitchen scissors, snip through the pile two or three times so the strands are about 8 inches (20 cm) long and easier to eat.
3. Put the noodles back in the empty pot or skillet over low heat and pour over the rest of the sauce, the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce and tablespoon of sugar. Toss with tongs for 2 minutes so the noodles soak up the sauce.
4. Add the noodles to the large bowl with the vegetables and beef. Add the remaining sesame oil and toss everything together well, ideally with your hands in gloves, lifting and loosening so the vegetables are spread through. Taste and add a little more soy sauce or sugar if needed.
5. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt. Wipe the small nonstick pan with a drop of oil and heat over low heat. Pour in the egg and swirl to make a very thin pancake, cook for 1 minute until set, flip for 10 seconds, then slide out, roll up and slice into thin ribbons.
6. Pile the japchae onto a large platter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and scatter over the egg ribbons.

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