{"id":6675,"date":"2013-01-03T00:30:40","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T05:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=6675"},"modified":"2013-01-03T00:31:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T05:31:10","slug":"gch-whats-on-your-plate-japchae-korean-noodle-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/03\/gch-whats-on-your-plate-japchae-korean-noodle-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"GCH: What&#8217;s on Your Plate?  Japchae (Korean Noodle Salad)"},"content":{"rendered":"<dl class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" id=\"attachment_6677\" style=\"width: 516px\">\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\"><strong><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 13px;line-height: 19px\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 13px;line-height: 19px\">Japchae &#8211; (Korean Noodle Salad) by Dana Kim<\/span><\/span><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/2013\/01\/03\/gch-whats-on-your-plate-japchae-korean-noodle-salad\/japchae-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6683\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6683\" alt=\"Japchae - Korean Noodle Salad\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Japchae1.jpg\" width=\"452\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Japchae1.jpg 452w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Japchae1-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><\/a><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p><strong>Happy New Year!<\/strong> \u00a0Do you have any fun New Year traditions? \u00a0I think it&#8217;s fascinating to learn about different cultures, and traditions and foods are a wonderful insight into other people&#8217;s\u00a0way of life. \u00a0For instance, my Mom used to make a pork roast with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes on New Year&#8217;s Day, as it is the Pennsylvania Dutch &#8220;good luck&#8221; food for the new year. \u00a0I never knew why, but a little research uncovered this bit of trivia: \u00a0Pigs root forward, while chickens and turkeys scratch backwards, so eating pork is a symbol of positivity and looking forward to the good things in life. \u00a0We always spend New Year&#8217;s Day with my Korean in-laws, so I am learning about Korean &#8220;good luck&#8221; food too!<\/p>\n<p>Like many other Asian cultures, Koreans eat long noodles for good luck to symbolize a long life. \u00a0And my favorite Korean noodle dish is Japchae! \u00a0Pronounced &#8220;Jop Cheh&#8221;, it translates to &#8220;a mixture of vegetables&#8221;, and along with the noodles and a sesame dressing, that&#8217;s about it. \u00a0My mother-in-law always makes it with a little bit of beef in it, and that makes it even more filling and delicious.<\/p>\n<p>The two things you&#8217;ll need to buy at the Korean store are the noodles and the mushrooms. \u00a0The noodles are called &#8220;dangmyeon&#8221; and are clear noodles, made from sweet potato starch. \u00a0They&#8217;re very pretty, but don&#8217;t have a lot of taste on their own. \u00a0(If you can&#8217;t find them, I suppose you could try this with another noodle &#8211; I won&#8217;t tell on you!) \u00a0The mushrooms are dried shiitake mushrooms. \u00a0They can be pricy in American stores, but in Asian markets, they are easy to find and inexpensive.<\/p>\n<p>Japchae is served warm or at room temperature. \u00a0I like the leftovers for breakfast &#8211; I just warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds. \u00a0May these noodles bring long life and good luck to you and your family in the New Year!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Japchae<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>4 ounces beef, sliced as thin as possible into small bite-sized strips<\/li>\n<li>6 cloves garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>10 dried shiitake mushrooms<\/li>\n<li>2 bunches spinach, tough stems trimmed and washed well<\/li>\n<li>2 large carrots, peeled<\/li>\n<li>1 small onion, sliced very thin<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 package sweet potato noodles, about 6 oz.<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons sesame oil, maybe a little more<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons soy sauce<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon sugar<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon sesame seeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Directions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Prepare meat: \u00a0Heat saut\u00e9 pan and add a tablespoon of sesame oil. \u00a0Add meat and 3 cloves minced garlic and cook until done. \u00a0Remove from heat to a very large mixing bowl, and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce. \u00a0Set aside.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare mushrooms: \u00a0Place mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. \u00a0Place a plate on top to keep the heat in. \u00a0Let the mushrooms steep and rehydrate for about half an hour. \u00a0When they are rehydrated and soft, slice thinly.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare spinach: \u00a0Boil a large pot of water, and get an ice bath ready. \u00a0Blanch the spinach for about 15-20 seconds. \u00a0Remove spinach to ice bath, but keep the water boiling on the stove for the noodles. \u00a0When the spinach is cool, squeeze out the water, but don&#8217;t crush the spinach. \u00a0Add to the bowl with the meat and stir to combine.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare noodles: \u00a0Put the noodles into the boiling water you used to cook the spinach in, then turn off the heat. \u00a0Leave the noodles in the pot for ten minutes, then drain, and add to the meat and spinach. \u00a0Toss to combine.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare carrots, onions and mushrooms: \u00a0Peel carrots and cut into 2-inch lengths, then slice as thinly as possible into match sticks. \u00a0Heat saut\u00e9 pan, add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and cook sliced carrots, sliced onion, the mushrooms, and the remaining garlic until the onions are soft. \u00a0Remove from heat and dump it all in the bowl with the meat and noodles.<\/li>\n<li>Sprinkle with sugar and remaining soy sauce and toss again to combine. \u00a0Shake on some sesame seeds and taste. \u00a0You may need a bit more soy sauce or a little more sesame oil. \u00a0What you are looking for: \u00a0balanced umami perfection!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Explore, experiment, enjoy!<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Dana<\/p>\n<p>Find more recipes from Dana, Korean and otherwise, at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/frugalgirlmet.blogspot.com\/\">Frugal Girlmet<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japchae &#8211; (Korean Noodle Salad) by Dana Kim Happy New Year! \u00a0Do you have any fun New Year traditions? \u00a0I think it&#8217;s fascinating to learn about different cultures, and traditions and foods are a wonderful insight into other people&#8217;s\u00a0way of life. \u00a0For instance, my Mom used to make a pork roast with sauerkraut and mashed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[9296,1256,279,1255,398,417,425,592,643,1214,1254,1077],"class_list":["post-6675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-at-home-with-gch","tag-at-home-with-gch","tag-beef","tag-dana-kim","tag-entree","tag-frugal-girlmet","tag-gchwhats-on-your-plate","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-korean","tag-main-entree-dish","tag-meal-planning","tag-noodles","tag-traditions","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-1JF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6675"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6682,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6675\/revisions\/6682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}