I finally made japchae today. I’ve been meaning to cook it but couldn’t find the time. Now, because of the quarantine, I have enough time in my hands (NOT that I’m thankful for the pandemic!). It was my first time to cook japchae so I looked for an easy-to-follow tutorial on YouTube.

First, I marinated the sirloin steak and mushroom with soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and pepper. Then I blanched the spinach leaves. I fried the scrambled egg, onions, spring onions and carrots individually. I boiled the dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato starch noodles).

When everything was cooked, I put the dangmyeon in a bowl and mixed it with soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Then I put the other ingredients on the side. I added one clove of minced garlic and ground pepper. I combined all of them together and added more soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. I tasted it to adjust.

Japchae is a little finicky. Pansit bihon is easier to make because we sauté all the vegetables together. With japchae, we have to fry the ingredients individually. It’s more time consuming. Korean food is so elaborate. They put so much time and effort into it. No wonder their food is so delicious! Everything worth having takes time and effort.