''Japchae'' () is a savory and slightly sweet dish of stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables that is popular in

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine is the set of foods and culinary styles which are associated with Korean culture. This cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient Prehistoric Korea, agricultural and nomad ...

. * ''Japchae'' is typically prepared with '' dangmyeon'' (), a type of

cellophane noodles Glass noodles, or fensi (), sometimes called cellophane noodles, are a type of transparent noodle made from starch (such as mung bean starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca, or canna (plant), canna starch) and water. They originated ...

made from

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

starch; the noodles are mixed with assorted vegetables, meat, and mushrooms, and seasoned with

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

and

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

. Once a royal dish, japchae is now one of the most popular traditional celebration dishes, often served on special occasions, such as weddings, birthdays (especially '' dol'', the first birthday, and ''

hwangap In the Sinosphere, one's sixtieth birthday has traditionally held special significance. Especially when life expectancies were shorter, the sixtieth birthday was seen as a symbolic threshold for reaching old age and having lived a full life. Th ...

'', the sixtieth), and holidays. It is also popular at banquets, parties, and

potluck A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared. Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, c ...

s, due to the ease of bulk preparation and flexible serving: ''japchae'' can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator, and can be eaten freshly made or the day after. ''Japchae'' is commonly served as a ''

banchan ''Banchan'' ( ; ; ) are small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. ''Banchan'' are often set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the center of the table is the secondary main course, such as ''galbi'' or ''bulg ...

'' (side dish), though it may also be eaten as a main dish. It is sometimes served on a bed of rice: with rice, it is known as ''japchae-bap'' ().

Etymology and history

The Sino-Korean word ''japchae'' () consists of two syllables, ''jap'' () meaning "mixed" and ''chae'' () meaning "vegetable". According to ''

Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty The ''Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty'', sometimes called ''sillok'' () for short, are state-compiled and published records, called Veritable Records, documenting the reigns of the kings of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Kept from 1392 ...

'', the name originally referred to a stir-fried

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

and

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

dish, first made in the early 17th century by Yi Chung (1568‒1619) for King Gwanghaegun's palace banquet. The king liked the dish so much that he rewarded Yi by promoting him to a high-ranking position, equivalent to the position of

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, and ''japchae'' became a fixture of Korean royal court cuisine. Cooked without noodles or meat at the time, ''japchae'' was considered a luxurious and elegant dish served to the royal family and high-level officials.

Cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.radishes, and

shiitake mushroom The shiitake (; ''Chinese/black mushroom'' or ''Lentinula edodes'') is a macrofungus native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe. Taxonomy The fungus was first described scientifically as '' Agaricus edodes'' by ...

s were among the vegetables used in this period. ''Japchae'', like other royal dishes, was eventually adopted into the cuisine of common people. Its popularity increased later in the 20th century when cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch were introduced to Korea from China. The noodles have since become an integral and primary ingredient of ''japchae''. Beef and other meats have been added to the noodle dish, while experimentation and adaptations have led to many noodle-less variations made with

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

, herbs, peppers,

bean sprouts Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth. In the field of nutrition, the term signifies ...

, and other ingredients.

Ingredients and preparation

'' Dangmyeon'' are pale grey, semi-transparent, chewy and elastic noodles made from

starch. They are also known as "glass noodles", "cellophane noodles", or "sweet potato vermicelli". The noodles may be soaked in water before cooking. Noodles are sometimes soaked in hot water and then stir-fried. The assortment of vegetables in ''japchae'' may vary, with typical ingredients including

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

and scallions. Commonly used mushrooms are wood ear,

shiitake The shiitake (; ''Chinese/black mushroom'' or ''Lentinula edodes'') is a macrofungus native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe. Taxonomy The fungus was first described scientifically as '' Agaricus edodes'' by ...

, and oyster mushrooms. Both beef and pork are commonly used for ''japchae''. Each ingredient is stir-fried separately before being mixed with boiled and drained noodles, and seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, chopped garlic, green onions and sesame oil. The dish is usually garnished with toasted

sesame seeds Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

and chili threads, and served hot or cold.

Varieties

Royal court dishes

* ''Gyeoja-chae'' () * ''Jokchae'' () – made with shredded '' jokpyeon'' (trotter jelly) and vegetables * '' Tangpyeong-chae'' () – made with '' nokdu-muk'' (mung bean jelly), beef, mung bean sprouts, water dropwort, and mugwort * '' Wolgwa-chae'' () – made with Oriental pickling melon, beef, and vegetables * ''Juksoon-chae'' () - made with bamboo shoots and vegetables

Other dishes

* '' Gochu-japchae'' () – made with shredded green pepper and vegetables * ''Buchu-japchae'' () – made with garlic chives * ''Kongnamul-japchae'' () – made with soybean sprouts * ''Haemul-japchae'' () – made with seafood and vegetables * ''Beoseot-japchae'' () – made with mushrooms * ''Gungjung-japchae'' () - made with high-grade ingredients and royal vegetables

References