Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles)

Ingredients

• 8 3/4 ozsweet potato starch noodles, dangmyeon
• 1/4 cupsoy sauce
• 2 tbspsugar
• 3 tbspsesame oil
• 3 tbspvegetable oil, for cooking the vegetables
• 1onion, thinly sliced
• 2carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
• 5 1/4 ozshiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 7 ozspinach
• 1red pepper, thinly sliced
• 3 clovegarlic, minced
• 3spring onions, cut into short lengths
• 1 tbsptoasted sesame seeds

Method

1. 1

   Stir the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil together in a large mixing bowl until the sugar dissolves. Everything else gets tossed into this bowl as it finishes, so make it big.

2. 2

   Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the spinach for 30 seconds, lift it out, and cool it under cold water. Squeeze it dry in your hands and add it to the bowl. Keep the water on the heat.

3. 3

   Boil the noodles in the same water for 6 to 7 minutes until they are fully translucent and slippery with no chalky centre. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water, and snip through the tangle a few times with scissors before adding them to the bowl.

4. 4

   Heat a little of the vegetable oil in a frying pan over high heat and cook each vegetable on its own for 1 to 2 minutes, adding it to the bowl before starting the next: onion first, then carrots, then mushrooms, then the red pepper with the garlic. Season each batch with a small pinch of salt.

5. 5

   Add the spring onions and toss everything in the bowl with your hands until the noodles have taken on an even glossy brown and every strand is coated. Taste and add a splash more soy sauce if it needs it.

6. 6

   Scatter over the sesame seeds and serve warm or at room temperature.