Japchae (seasoned vegetable and beef tossed with glass noodle)

• Japchae is made by tossing boiled grass noodles with grilled vegetables. This dish, which is most often cooked for holidays and parties, was originally made with cooked cucumber, radish, mung bean sprouts, and platycodon when served in royal palaces. In recent years, grass noodles have become its principal ingredient. Prince Gwanghae (reigned 1608~1623) of Joseon asked if there was anything he could eat aside from the greasy and fancy dishes that were usually served to him. A man called Yi Chung made japchae and served it to him, and he was rewarded with a high-ranking government office by the prince.
  
  
• Ingredients
• Beef (Round) 50g, Shitake Mushroom 10g (2 pieces), Wood Ear Mushrooms 3g
  Sauce ?? Soy Sauce 9g (½Tbs), Sugar 2g (½tsp), Chopped Spring Onions 2.3g (½tsp), Chopped Garlic 1.4g (¼tsp), Crushed Sesame Seeds 1g (½tsp), Sesame Oil 2g (½tsp), Pepper 0.1g
  Cucumber 70g (??, Salt 0.5g (??sp), Carrot 30g, Salt 0.5g (??sp)
  Peeled Platycodon 30g, Salt 2g (½tsp), Onion 150g (1)
  Mung Bean Sprouts 30g, Water 400g (2C), Salt 1g (¼tsp)
  Mung Bean Seasoning: Salt 0.5g (??sp), Sesame Oil 2g (½tsp)
  Egg 60g (1), Salt 0.5g (??sp)
  Glass Noodle 60g, Water for Boiling 400g (2C)
  Sauce ?? Soy Sauce 18g (1Tbs), Sugar 12g (1Tbs), Sesame Oil 6.5g (½Tbs), Sesame Seeds 3.5g (½Tbs), Salt 1g (¼tsp), Cooking Oil 26g (2Tbs)
  
  
• Preparations
  
• 1. Dab away any blood from the beef with a cotton washcloth, and cut the meat into strips 6cm long and 0.3cm thick (45g). Marinate the meat with 1/2 of the Sauce ??
  2. Soak the shitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms in water for an hour. Cut away the stems of the shitake mushrooms and cut it into slices 0.3cm thick (28g). Separate the leaves of the wood ear mushrooms (918g). Use the remaining 1/2 of the Sauce ??to season the mushrooms.
  3. Thoroughly wash the cucumber and julienne it into slices 5~6cm long and 0.3cm thick (23g). Clean and peel the carrot and cut it into slices 5~6cm long, 0.3cm thick (20g). Sprinkle the cucumber and carrot with salt and let stand for 5 minutes before drying the surface with a cotton washcloth.
  4. Cut the platycodon to the same size as the cucumber slices (26g), massage with salt for about a minute to get the bitter flavor out. Peel and wash the onion and cut it to the same size as the cucumber slices (100g). Clean the mung bean sprouts by cutting away the heads and roots (26g).
  5. Separate the egg yolk and white and cook them into thin sheets. Cool then cut into strips 4cm long and 0.3cm thick.
  
  
• Instructions
  
• 1. Heat the pan and oil it. Separately cook the beef, shitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms over a medium heat for 2 minutes each.
  2. Heat the pan and oil it. Separately cook the cucumber and carrot over a high heat for 30 seconds each. Cook the platycodon and onion over a medium heat for 2 minutes each.
  3. Bring water to the boil in a pot, add salt, and cook the mung bean sprouts over a high heat for 2 minutes. Drain the mung bean sprouts (24g) and toss in the Mung Bean Sprout Seasoning.
  4. Bring water to the boil in a pot, and cook the glass noodles over a high heat for 8 minutes. Cut into lengths of 20cm, and toss in the Sauce ??
  5. Heat the pan and oil it. Cook the glass noodles from 4 over a medium heat for 2 minutes.
  6. Mix the glass noodles from 5 with all the other prepared ingredients. Top with the egg white and egg yolk slices.
• - Quickly cooking most ingredients over a high heat gives japchae a better texture and color.
  - Other ingredients such as pork, spinach, and oyster mushrooms can be used, too.