Korean Cuisine

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Please note: For your convenience, you can click on the recipes listed below and be taken directly to a page with just that one recipe on it, in printer-friendly format.

You are certainly welcomed to read through this whole page, all the recipes are here as well, and there are some videos and pertinent information on background, history, customs, special notes, etc., so it is well worth the read.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order:

Bi Bim Bap

Bul Go Gi

Homemade Kim Chee

Japchae (Korean Noodle Dish)

Kimchi Jjigae

Korean Style Seafood Pancakes

Miso Mushroom Tofu and Noodles Soup

Miyeok Muchim 미역무침

Traditional Korean Style Seaweed Soup

The Old Silly developed a taste and love for Korean cuisine as a young man, when I was in formal Zen training.

Heart of Zen Meditation

I trained for three years, under the tutelage of a Korean Monk, Zen Master Venerable Samu Sunim.sunim4

For the better part of two years during that training, I was a permanent resident at his temple, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The temple food was almost exclusively Korean, and I acquired a taste for the cuisine served there, which, I have since learned, was among the best Korean food recipes you could ever ask for.

This following soup recipe I learned, while serving a stint as a novice prep cook, in the temple kitchen.

zen temple kitchen preparing Korean Cuisine

I have made it many times over the decades passed since my formal Zen training, and it always brings back great memories and satisfies the palate with a marvelous complex bouquet of flavors and textures.

I now pass on this authentic, traditional Korean food recipe to you. Miso soup is of Japanese origins, but the Koreans adopted it, and put their own unique spin on the dish, so please enjoy!

Korean Style Miso, Mushroom, Tofu and Noodles Soup

korean miso soup

Ingredients:

(serves 8 or more, and saved leftovers taste even better reheated the next day)

  • 14 oz. (400 grams) Somen noodles
  • Sesame oil, regular, or (optional) hot sesame oil (for an even spicier soup)
  • 2 cups of shitake mushrooms, stems trimmed of tough ends and fine chopped, heads chopped to ¼”thick slices
  • 2 cups of oyster mushrooms, stems trimmed of tough ends, bodies chopped in half if larger than bite size
  • 2 cups of enoki mushrooms, bottoms of stems cut off, stems and heads left together and whole
  • 2 to 4 heaping tbsp. (depending on how spicy hot you want your soup) Sambal Oelek Red Chili Paste
  • 1 pound (500 grams) medium or dark brown miso
  • 8 green onions, white parts fine chopped, tender parts of green stalks cut into 1” to 1-1/2” lengths
  • 12 oz. firm silken tofu, chopped into ½” to ¾” cubes
  • 4 cups fresh bean sprouts
  • 2 to 3 quarts water (depending on your desired intensity of flavor and thickness of ingredients for your soup)

Note: You can use either fresh or dried mushrooms, since this is a soup and the mushrooms will fully hydrate during the cooking. But if using dried mushrooms, reduce the quantity by 1/3, as they will fill out and enlarge during cooking/rehydration.

Directions:
  1. Place a large cooking pot on the burner, fill halfway with water, and bring the water to a rolling boil.
  2. Spoon in the miso, until the entire 1 lb. package is in the water, and stir until it is all dissolved into the water.
  3. Spoon in the red chili paste, and again stir until well blended throughout the soup.
  4. Add the green onions and bean sprouts to the pot.
  5. Wait until the water returns to a good boil, and then add in all the prepped mushrooms. This will again stop the water from boiling. Wait until it boils again, and then add the chopped tofu chunks into the mix.
  6. Reduce the heat until the soup is just at a lively simmer. Cover the pot with a lid left slightly ajar, to allow the soup to breathe and evaporate slightly as it simmers.
  7. Leave the soup on the burner to gently simmer for at least two hours.
  8. After you are done cooking the soup, take a medium sized cooking pot, fill it half to two-thirds full of water, and heat water to a furious boil.
  9. Once the water is boiling, put all 14 oz. of the somen noodles in the pot, and cook for about 3 to no more than 5 minutes, until nice and tender. These very thin and delicate noodles do not take long to cook. Drain the noodles in a sieve.
  10. Take each serving bowl and place a few drops of the sesame oil in the bottom. Fill the bowls 1/3 to ½ full of noodles.
  11. Finally, ladle the soup over the noodles, filling the bowls near to the top, and serve immediately. Provide chopsticks and a large soup spoon as eating utensils. Chopsticks for picking out morsels to eat and twisting up yummy helpings of the noodles, and a spoon for bringing the savory broth to the mouth.

Absolutely a unique to Korea food is the spicy pickled vegetables known as Kim Chee. Most often it will be Bok Choi cabbage, with some onions and garlic, but it can also be Daikon Radishes and other veggies. My favorite is the cabbage Kim Chee.

Kim Chee is often served as a side dish, or condiment, at a meal, but it can also be a main ingredient in a soup or stew, as in this which follows, definitely to be counted among the best Korean cuisine recipes you will ever find.

Kimchi Jjigae

(Kimchi Stew – 김치찌개)

Korean_stew-Kimchi_jjigae-01

Ingredients:

(2 servings)

  • ¼ pound of pork belly (or you could substitute canned tuna if you’re not a big pork fan)
  • 2 cups of cabbage Kim Chee (use aged Kim Chee if you can, it’s even worth buying some and letting it age for a couple months
  • 1 ½  cups of water
  • 2 green onions, white parts chopped fine, green stalks cut into 1” long pieces
  • Firm Tofu, about 12 oz.
  • 1 tbsp. of minced garlic
  • 2 tsp. of sesame oil
  • ½ medium sized onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp. of Gochujang chili paste
Directions:
  1. Chop the green onions, dice the onion, cut the pork belly into bite sized cubes, and also the tofu
  2. In a cooking pot, heat some sesame oil to medium high
  3. Add in the minced garlic and diced onion
  4. Add pork belly and keep cooking until the pink color is gone
  5. Now add in the Kim Chee, juices and all, and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes
  6. Add in water until you have your desired consistency (very little for stew, more for soup), reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes, even longer is better
  7. Lastly, add in the green onions and the tofu, and simmer for 5 to 10 more minutes
  8. Note: you can add sugar to taste for a sweeter flavor

Throughout recorded history Korean cuisine has included Kim Chee, also known as Kimchi, as one of its staples. And, as noted above, it is basically just spicy pickled, fermented vegetables, most often cabbage and/or radishes.

In the search for the “perfect” authentic Korean Kim Chee recipe, you will find it hard to come to an exclusive conclusion. It’s pretty hard to screw up this simple process, and in almost every Korean household, you can find cured Kimchi in the fridge, on the table, and another batch fermenting.

You can make it, too, it’s fun, and you can experiment with all kinds of variations. As long as you stick to the basic ingredients, what veggies you use, and how spicy hot you make it, that’s up to you. There is no best Kim Chee recipe, only what is best for your tastes.

With that all said, let’s get started, shall we?

How to Make Kim Chee

homemade kim chee

You will need a 2 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Use a glass jar, as plastic will absorb the Kimchi’s odors and you will never be able to use it for anything else. Also, the Kimchi will be fermenting in the jar for some time, and plastic containers leach plastic particles into your food – not a good thing.

Ingredients:
  • 2 large heads napa (bok choy) cabbage (if you are making cabbage Kimchi – again, you can use any veggies you want, but for the purpose of this sample recipe, we will stick with the most common vegetable in traditional Korean cuisine)
  • 1 or 2 Daikon radishes, julienned
  • 24 large cloves garlic, peeled and rough chopped
  • 6) 1″ nodules of fresh ginger root, peeled and rough chopped
  • 2 cups salt for the brine water, plus 1 more cup for the fermentation spice mix
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 jar of Saeujeot (Korean salted tiny shrimp)
  • 1 cup Kochukaru (Korean hot red chili powder)
Directions:
  1. Remove the outer, tough and/or wilted and/or discolored leaves from the cabbage heads.
  2. Now chop the cabbage in half lengthwise, then chop the halves in half. Cut out and discard the tough root part.
  3. The next step is important. Take the quartered cabbages and place them in the sink and, running lukewarm water over them, clean them thoroughly, especially digging down into the core areas, where pesticides tend to accrue and are difficult to get out.
  4. Once the quarters are well cleaned, place them into a large container—an icebox thermal cooler works well.
  5. In a large bowl, place the 2 cups of salt in the bottom, then fill the bowl with warm water. Stir until the salt is all absorbed into the water.
  6. Pour the salt water over the cabbage, and allow the cabbage to sit in the briny mixture for at least 4 hours—overnight is even better.
  7. Peel and julienne your radishes.
  8. Peel and rough chop the garlic cloves and ginger root, place them in a blender and puree them.
  9. When your cabbage quarters are well salted, remove them from the brine, pat them dry, and crosscut them into 2” wide pieces.
  10. In a very large bowl, place the kochukaru, the saeujeot, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of salt, and the julienned radishes. Mix and blend all the ingredients together well.
  11. Now add in the cabbage pieces and toss them with your hands until all the pieces a completely coated with the blended spicy mixture.
  12. Take your 2 quart glass jar, and tightly pack the entire mixture into it, then screw on the lid tightly, to ensure a good seal.
  13. Put the jar in a dark, cool place (not the refrigerator) for a good 24 hours. It will probably start to bubble, when the fermentation starts. Keep an eye on it, and loosen the lid enough to allow the gases to escape, then reseal the jar. You may have to do this a few times during the 24 hours.
  14. Now that the fermentation is well underway, slow it down some by refrigerating the jar. Keep it in the fridge for at least 2 full days before eating it, and if you can have the patience, it will taste the best if allowed to cure for a full week.
  15. This batch of Kim Chee will be good for eating, if kept refrigerated, for up to one month.

****************

Here is a well done, short video that will walk you through with a good visual understanding of the process of making your own delicious Kimchi.

This next dish is a favorite of mine, and it can be taken as a breakfast, lunch, or dinner – a whole meal unto itself. It is absolutely one of the best Korean food recipes ever.

Bi Bim Bap

Korean_cuisine-Bibimbap-01

Ingredients:

(6 servings)

Meat and meat sauce-

Vegetables and Other Ingredients-

  • 12 oz. (350g) bean sprouts, room temperature
  • 7 oz. (200g) seasoned spinach, room temperature
  • 6 oz. (175g) shiitake mushrooms (use fresh if you can, if not use dried shiitakes, and rehydrate them)
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
  • One large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp ground salt
  • 9 cups freshly steamed rice (1-1/2 cup per serving)
  • 6 large eggs
  • Vegetable oil

Bi Bim Bap Sauce-

Other Items You Will Want-

Directions:
  1. Put your rice on to steam first, it should be cooked just right, about the same time as the rest of the dish is prepared.
  2. Prepare the Bi Bim Bap sauce by simply blending all the ingredients listed above together well.
  3. Mince your skirt or flank steak and blend the meat sauce into it, then allow it to marinate for the next half an hour while you prepare the rest of the dish. The longer the better, the meat will just keep getting tastier.
  4. Rinse off the mushrooms well, pat them dry, then slice the caps very thinly—take the stems, cut off the tough parts at the ends, and chop them into thin rounds.
  5. Rinse the carrots well, peel and julienne them.
  6. Fry the mushrooms and carrots in your wok or pan in a small amount of oil and about one level teaspoon of salt, on medium high heat, for just 2 or 3 minutes, it doesn’t take long until they are well cooked and tender.
  7. Using a wok or large fry pan, add in some oil and cook the minced meat on medium high heat. It will only take 4 or 5 minutes to thoroughly cook. You do want it well browned and done, not rare or even medium rare.
  8. While the meat is frying, in a separate pan, fry the eggs. Traditionally, Koreans serve them sunnyside up, with the yolks soft, but you can fry them however you wish. One Korean restaurant I like to go to offers any choice of preparation, including a squared off patty of scrambled egg.
  9. To assemble the dish, place 1-1/2 cups of steamed rice in the bottom of each serving bowl, put a portion of the meat, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, and bean sprouts arranged around the top perimeter, leaving a space in the middle, where you place the fried egg.
  10. Serve immediately, with the Bi Bim Bap sauce as a condiment, for each person to adjust the amount of hot & spiciness to their tastes.

Among the Korean food recipes “easy to make” category, is this next one. It is also among the very best Korean food recipes, a taste treat you will never forget and want to revisit often. A rich, marinated, spicy grilled beef entree … yummy!

Bul Go Gi

Korean_barbeque-beef-16

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

Directions:
  1. Make the marinade by combining the mashed tomatoes, sugar, green onions, minced pepper, sesame seeds, pepper, garlic and soy sauce, in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, place the sliced meat.
  2. Pour the marinade over the beef. Cover the bowl, refrigerate, and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, 2 is better, and best yet, overnight.
  3. Using a grille, preferably, but you can also use a large skillet or wok, bring the heat up to high, with the grille or wok or skillet lightly oiled. Put the sliced onion in, and cook until slightly translucent and fragrant.
  4. Add in the beef and cook along with the onion, until the meat is cooked well through and just a bit charred. It won’t take long, because of it being so thinly sliced. About 1 to 2 minutes per side should do the trick.
  5. Serve hot, with freshly steamed rice, and a side vegetable dish and/or soup, if you wish to serve a complete meal. You can also just serve the Bul Go Gi by itself, as a mid day or afternoon tasty treat. Do, however, always provide some Gochujang sauce as a condiment.

There are many Korean seaweed soup recipes, and this one that follows – a very traditional version – is also a special Korean birthday soup. It is a centuries-old custom to serve seaweed soup as a birthday dish in Korea.

Koreans also believe that seaweed soup is of great benefit for women who have just given birth. It is considered a perfect dish to aid the mother with healthy breast feeding for her baby.

Traditional Korean Style Seaweed Soup

korean seaweed soup

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Place the seaweed in water, enough to fully cover it, and allow to rehydrate.
  2. Once well softened, drain the seaweed and cut into 1-1/2” to 2” pieces.
  3. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the sesame oil, ½ tsp. of the sesame oil, 1 tbsp. of soy sauce, and the chopped beef. Cook for about a minute, until the meat is browned, stirring regularly.
  4. Now stir in the remaining soy sauce and the seaweed, and cook for 1 minute, again with regular stirring.
  5. Add in 2 cups of water, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil.
  6. Add in the garlic, stirring it in well, along with the remaining 4 cups of water. Again bring the soup to a boil, put a lid on the pan, and reduce the heat to just a vigorous simmer.
  7. Cook on simmer for 20 minutes, then do a taste test, adding either more soy sauce or salt, if you so desire.
  8. Serve immediately, nice and hot.

Koreans love seaweed, taken in many forms, as ingredients in dishes or by itself. So while we’re on the subject, here’s another typical use of the plant.

This is just one of many excellent Korean seaweed salad recipes, but certainly an authentic, mainstream and traditional version.

Miyeok Muchim 미역무침

(Korean Seasoned Seaweed Salad)

miyeok muchim seaweed salad

Ingredients:
  • 1 oz. dried Chung Jung (Brown Seaweed)
  • ¼ of a large cucumber
  • 3 oz. Korean Radish (if you can get it, but you can also substitute Western style radishes, the elongated varieties, preferably white, but if red, then peeled down to the white inner flesh)
  • ¼ of a medium onion
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • ½ tsp. salt, or to taste
  • 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1-1/2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. Gukganjang Soup Soy Sauce
  • 2 tsp. roasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

Note: You can use regular soy sauce, but will need more of it, as Gukganjang is very salty and intensely flavored. For best results use Gukganjang for the authentic nuance of Korean flavor.

Directions:
  1. Soak the dried miyeok in water for at least a half an hour. Fully soaked and drained, you should have about 1-1/2 cups of rehydrated seaweed.
  2. Rinse the miyeok twice, thoroughly, and drain.
  3. Bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil, put the miyeok in the pot, and blanch it for 10 minutes. Rinse, and drain.
  4. Peel, wash, and julienne the radish into 1-1/2” very thin long pieces.
  5. Wash and julienne the cucumber in the same way as the radish.
  6. Peel and julienne the onion
  7. To make the seasoning: In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 tsp. of Gukganjang, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ tsp. of minced garlic, 2 tbsp. of rice vinegar, 4 tsp. of sugar, and 2 tsp. of roasted sesame seeds.
  8. Now roll the seaweed salad into the bowl, and gently toss the salad until it is all evenly seasoned.
  9. Serve in side dishes or shallow bowls, with some extra sesame seeds on top as a garnish.

Another favorite dish in Korea is pancakes. But their pancakes are not the same as what you would expect if you are from the West. Korean style pancakes are not sweet, or flour-fluffy, with syrups and butter on them.

Koreans make a whole meal out their pancakes, as you will see in this recipe, which features vegetables and seafoods.

Traditional Korean Style Seafood Pancakes

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1-3/4 cups water
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 large green onions, halved crosswise and cut into very thin strips
  • 1 large red bell pepper, cored, de-seeded, and sliced into thin strips and chopped into small pieces
  • 1 large jalapeño pepper, seeds left in, and finely chopped
  • 1/2 pound medium sized shrimp, shelled, deveined, and chopped into small chunks
  • 1/2 pound medium to large scallops, chopped into small chunks       http://amzn.to/19xl7CY

Note: You can use just about any kind of seafood you like: squid, octopus, clams, oysters, etc. This is just a favorite combination of The Old Silly’s, but there is no “rule” about which seafoods to use. Just make sure the proportions are correct.

Directions:
  1. Sift together the cornstarch, salt, and flour together into a large bowl. Whisk one of the eggs with the water, then stir and blend the egg-water into the flour mixture until very smooth.
  2. Using an 8-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium high heat.
  3. Sauté your seafood until about halfway done, remove from the pan and set aside.
  4. Add in a little more oil, then sauté all the other ingredients, again, until about half way cooked.
  5. Now mix all your half-cooked ingredients into the pancake batter, and stir them well, until all the ingredients are well coated and incorporated into the batter.
  6. Turn the pan’s heat up to high, and pour your pancake mix into it, evenly, so the pancake is level and well distributed across the pan’s bottom. Keep heat high until the bottom starts turning brown, then reduce heat to just medium. Cook this side for about 4 minutes, checking often to make sure it is not getting too dark brown or burning.
  7. Flip the pancake over, and take the other egg, whisk it well, and drizzle it over the top of the pancake. Cook over medium heat until the egg is becoming solid, about 2 minutes, then flip the pancake one last time, and cook for only 30 seconds to 1 minute
  8. Flip the pancake back over, take it out of the pan and place on an attractive serving platter.
  9. Serve with a soy sauce/rice vinegar dipping sauce, which you can add other ingredients to, if you wish, like some hot red pepper paste if you like your pancake spicy.

****************

Here is a short and fun to watch video, showing how one home cooking enthusiast makes his Korean seafood pancakes. His version is slightly different than ours, but so close that you will find it informative and helpful.

This next dish is one that Koreans adopted from China, and historians generally agree it was first made as far back as 6,000 B.C., for King Gwanghaegun’s liege Yi Chung’s birthday party during the Chosun dynasty. It was originally a very simple dish of cellophane noodles cooked in broth, with one or two vegetables.

When the dish migrated to Korea, they added more ingredients, including marinated meats, and spiced it up considerably. So what you are about to experience can certainly be counted among the authentic Korean food recipes. I’ve eaten versions of this at Korean restaurants, and came up with this recipe of my own, using classic, traditional Korean ingredients.

Japchae

(Korean Noodle Dish)

Korean_cuisine_japchae_2
잡채

Ingredients:

  • 7 oz. sweet Dang Myeon (potato starch noodles)
  • 3-1/2 oz. beef brisket
  • ½ medium size onion
  • 2 medium size carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
  • 6 shitake mushrooms, fresh or dried
  • ½ green bell pepper
  • ½ red bell pepper
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach
  • 1 bunch of Boo-Choo (Chinese leeks)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • toasted sesame seeds
  • Vegetable oil
For the Marinade-
For the Noodle Seasoning-
Directions:
  1. If using dried mushrooms, soak them in room temperature water for 10 to 15 minutes, then squeeze them free of excess water, discard the stems, and slice the caps into thin pieces.
  2. Slice your beef brisket into very thin, 2” long pieces.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine all the meat marinade ingredients well, then place the brisket pieces in the marinade and let sit for at least half an hour—a full hour is even better. Stir occasionally, to ensure all the pieces are equally marinated.
  4. Blanch the spinach very quickly (10 or 15 seconds) in salted boiling water, then rinse the spinach off in a colander with cold water, pat dry, and chop into 2” pieces.
  5. Julienne your onion, half of the carrot quarters, and the bell peppers, keeping them separated.
  6. Trim the tough ends of the Boo-Choo leeks off and chop them into 2” long pieces.
  7. Boil a generous amount of water in a large pot, and cook the noodles for 5 minutes, stirring once in a while.
  8. Once softened, drain the hot water off the noodles and transfer them into a skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and stir well, then turn the heat up to medium high and stir-fry for 1 minute. You want to make sure you coat each strand of noodle—this prevents further cooking and having them become soggy.
  9. Place the cooked and coated noodles in a large bowl. Now you are ready to add in the rest of the ingredients one at a time.
  10. Add 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce to your spinach, stir and mix well, then add it into the noodles.
  11. Turn the heat up to high under your skillet and add in some vegetable oil. Stir-fry the rest of the vegetables and the meat, one at a time, and separately. All the ingredients require different cooking times and you want each ingredient to be just cooked through, but not soggy soft. Season each ingredient with salt and pepper as you stir-fry. As each ingredient is finished cooking, transfer it to the large bowl with the noodles in it, and let them cool slightly.
  12. Once all the ingredients have been cooked and added into the large bowl, add in the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil seasonings, and stir the entire mixture together thoroughly. The most effective way to do this is with your hands after a good cleaning in warm soapy water and rinsing off.
  13. You’re done! Japchae is excellent served with Kimchi on the side as a condiment, and have some toasted sesame seeds set out, for each person to garnish their serving with a sprinkling of them.

https://ethnicfoodsrus.com/asian-cuisine/korean-cuisin
This next recipe is one of the most basic, traditional, and most popular Korean food dishes. Although a bit time consuming, it is still fairly simple to prepare. Essential to this authentic Korean recipe is the Dang Myun noodles, a noodle made from the starches derived from sweet potatoes – nothing else will do!

You ready? Good – go ahead and try some noodles, Korean cuisine style!

Japchae (잡채)

Japchae

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

For the Main Dish-
For the Meat Marinade-
For the Noodles Seasoning-
Directions:
  1. First the prep work. If you are using dried mushrooms, soak them in clean water for about 10 minutes and, when they are well rehydrated, place them in a cheesecloth and squeeze out any excess water, then cut them into thin slices.
    1. Combine all the meat marinade ingredients in a suitable sized mixing bowl. Slice your beef brisket into thin, 1-1/2” to 2” long pieces, then add them into the marinade, stir and toss well to coat the meat, then set aside and allow to marinade for at least 10 minutes, the longer the better.
    2. Julienne the carrots, bell peppers, and onions, and set them aside, keeping separated, for cooking at separate times.
    3. Bring some salted water to a rolling boil, and blanch the spinach real fast—10 seconds is all—then quickly rinse them in cold water. Drain off the excess water, pat dry, and chop into 2” pieces.
    4. Peel any tough or discolored outer layers of the leeks, chop off the tough bottom parts, then chop them into 2” length pieces.
  2. In a large cooking pot, bring to a rolling boil a generous amount of water, and cook the noodles for 5 minutes, stirring now and then. When they are well softened, drain off the hot water and place the noodles into a large saucepan or skillet with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and toss and stir the noodles to spread the oil throughout them. Heat the pan up to medium-high and stir-fry for just one full minute. You want to coat and seal each noodle strand, hence preventing them from getting soggy during the rest of the cooking steps.
  3. Take the noodles out of the pan and place into a very large mixing bowl, as the base, to which you will be adding all the rest of the finished ingredients into this one main bowl.
  4. Add 1 tsp. of soy sauce to the spinach, stir and blend well, then add into the noodles bowl.
  5. Back to the saucepan, turn the heat up to high and add in the vegetable oil, then stir-fry each of the remaining vegetables (other than the spinach), one by one and separately—you do this because each ingredient requires a different cooking time. Add a little salt to each ingredient as it is stir-fried.
  6. As each veggie ingredient is done being cooked, add it into the noodles bowl, allowing each one to cool some as you cook the rest.
  7. When all the vegetable ingredients are cooked, lastly stir-fry your beef brisket chunks until they reach the desired doneness, be it rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, or well done. But do make sure, whatever level you choose, that they are nicely browned on all sides.
  8. Once all ingredients have been cooked and put together in the main large bowl, season the entire mixture with the sesame oil, sugar, and soy sauce, and stir and blend and mix together thoroughly. The best tool for this step? Your hands. Wear some thin plastic gloves and have at it.
  9. Japchae is traditionally (and best!) served with Kimchi.
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