Jap Chae

This weekend is a bit of a pile-up of holidays. Valentine's Day and the Lunar New Year are both on Sunday, President's Day is Monday, and Mardi Gras is Tuesday. We also have family coming into town this weekend, so we'll be busy hanging out with them.

For the Lunar New Year, I made jap chae. This is a Korean noodle dish. The noodles used are clear glass noodles, made from sweet potato starch. These noodles are insanely long. They come in a tall bag, and are doubled over. Normally, I cut the noodles to make the dish more manageable. However, this is bad luck for the new year, as noodles symbolize longevity. So for this time, I kept the noodles intact. We like our jap chae with lots of veggies, and sometimes forego the meat and make it totally vegetarian.

Jap Chae

12 oz clear glass noodles (made from sweet potato)

¾ lb lean meat (chicken breast, sirloin, pork tenderloin), cut into thin strips
3 Tbs soy sauce, divided
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbs chili-garlic sauce

1 clove garlic, minced
2 carrots, shredded
1 zucchini, slivered (I used a peeler to get fine strips)
½ red onion, cut into slivers
3 oz shitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
5 green onions, green parts cut into 1-inch strips
3 Tbs vegetable oil

4 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds

Cook noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse. Set aside.

Combine meat, 3 Tbs soy sauce, ginger, and chili-garlic sauce in a sealable plastic bag, making sure to coat all the strips of meat. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prep all the vegetables.

Heat 2 Tbs oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the marinating meat. Cook until meat is done, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate. Heat remaining Tbs of oil in the pan. Add carrots, zucchini, red onion, shitake mushrooms, and green onions. Saute for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from pan and add to plate with meat.

Place 4 Tbs of soy sauce, sugar, and chili-garlic sauce to pan. Stir to combine. Add noodles to pan. Stir to coat and heat through. Return meat and vegetables to pan, and toss to combine. Drizzle sesame oil over the contents of the pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve.