Fun with Korean Chapchae

I’ve just discovered a wonderful new dish concept, Korean Chapchae. I call it a concept because it is the type of dish that can be made many ways. I don’t know anything about Korean cooking, but when I came across the dish it looked intriguing. It also looked like something different than our normal fare and, TA DA! something that will make my husband enjoy eating vegetables.

I discovered Korean Chapchae in an article in a free, online newsletter I get called Make A Note. I think I must have found the link to subscribe to it in either Simple Times or The Dollar Stretcher; two other online newsletters I get that are focused on simplifying and the Simplicity Movement. Anyway, I gave the recipe a second glance because I noticed it had a complexity and didn’t use many ingredients my friend with Celiac disease cannot enjoy. Then I took another look at it because I had many of the odder ingredients it called for such as sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds. Hm, I thought, a tasty new way to use a piece of beef or chicken. So I went out and found a piece of sirloin a bit more than the 8 oz. it called for. I had one main vegetable ingredient carrots to be grated and just needed fresh mushrooms, a cup of chopped green onion and 10 oz. of fresh spinach. I didn’t have the noodles (cellophane noodles AKA bean threads) but I knew my husband was going to Uwajimaya (Seattle's Oriental supermarket) so I put it on his mental list.

The concept of this dish is to cook the meat, vegetables and noodles separately with their own seasonings and then bring the three pieces together. It offers a dimension of tastes and textures. I’m sure there are many variations of this. Keep the noodles on hand and it’s a great way to use up varying vegetables and meats. Besides the noodles, the only ingredients an American kitchen might probably be lacking would be the sesame oil, rice vinegar and sesame seeds. Stock up and you’re ready to go.

I made it according to the recipe the first time with beef. We ate it down to the last bite, finishing it up the next morning for breakfast cold! One problem is you might be tempted to eat a lot but, hey, it’s vegetables and vegetarian noodles with some meat chunks

I made it a second time again according to the recipe this time with chicken (four boneless skinless thighs cut up). Delicious again and a different taste.

Today, in a new Asian cookbook I acquired, World of the East Vegetarian Cooking by a favorite Indian cookbook author, Madher Jaffrey, I came across a recipe for Vegetarian Korean Chapchae. In this case you cook the vegetables and noodles separately then combine. I didn’t have the vegetables called for but my first Chapchae recipe had said “a great way to experiment with different vegetables and meats”. I had noodles and the stuff for the sauce from my first recipe (it looked better than the way they cooked the noodles in the vegetarian recipe). Then I scoured the fridge. Two bok choy (what had Hank been going to make?) ¾ sweet white onion, a bit of fresh cilantro, about a handful size head of broccoli and a 4” hunk of zucchini. I julienned it all. It called for 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil in the pan, 4 cloves or around a teaspoon of chopped or crushed garlic fried a little in the oil, a tablespoon of soy sauce (I used a bit more) and a tablespoon of sugar added in as a base to stir fry the vegetables.

The part from the first Chapchae recipe for cooking the noodles is, I think, a good basic way of preparing the noodles you can add to any stir fried veges or veges and meat. I went with that for this vegetarian version.

Noodles for Chapchae
Cook 1- 3.75 oz package of cellophane noodles (AKA bean threads) according to package directions (about 10 cups of water boiling cook till they are translucent) when noodles start to get soft, use clean scissors to cut the noodles, so they're easier to eat. Once noodles are cooked, drain well, then add
1/3 C soy sauce,
1 tblsp brown sugar,
1 tblsp rice vinegar,
1 tblsp sesame oil, and
1 tblsp sesame seeds.

I added the noodles to the vegetables and once again, YUM CITY! Different textures, different tastes and easy to make.

Here is the entire recipe: I was going to send you to the Make A Note Newsletter website but the recipe somehow isn’t on the site. So I'm giving you a link to the site and encourage you to go there and check out past issues of the newsletter:
http://home.att.net/~make-a-note/index.htm
And here is an email address if you’d like to subscribe to it:
http://home.att.net/~make-a-note/subscribe-make-a-note@ds.xc.org


KOREAN CHAPCHAE

FOR THE MEAT
Sprinkle 2 tsp of flour over 8 oz of beef cut into small chunks, toss well.
Add
1 tblsp of soy sauce,
1/2 tsp ground ginger,
1/2 tsp sesame oil,
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Toss again. Let refrigerate 30-60 min.

Coat a large skillet w/oil, heat to med-high heat, then brown meat mixture, remove from pan & cover to keep warm.

FOR THE VEGETABLES
Add the following to the pan in this order:
1 tsp sesame oil,
1 tsp vegetable oil,
1/2 tsp garlic powder,
3C sliced mushrooms,
1C chopped green onions, &
1C shredded carrots.
Stir well.

Then add
1-10 oz bag of fresh spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.

FOR THE NOODLES
While all that is cooking, cook
1- 3.75 oz package of cellophane noodles (AKA bean threads) according to package directions. When noodles start to get soft, use clean scissors to cut the noodles, so they're easier to eat. Once noodles are cooked, drain well, then add
1/3 C soy sauce,
1 tblsp brown sugar,
1 tblsp rice vinegar,
1 tblsp sesame oil, and
1 tblsp sesame seeds.

Stir well, then add vegetables & stir again.
Finally add meat mixture and stir again.

Side note:
After making this dish the first time, I had way more grated carrots than I needed so I chopped up a tart apple, threw in some dried cranberries and made my ol' standby slaw dressing Best Foods Mayonnaise, cider vinegar and sugar to taste. A totally yummy slaw that Hank loved, as well.