Japchae – Korean glass noodle salad

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 120 g glass noodles made from starch/sweet potato starch – not rice
• ½ thick carrot(s)
• ½ bell pepper(s), red
• 100 g spinach, fresh
• 2 shiitake mushrooms, dried
• 3 large mushrooms
• 250g filet mignon
• 1 onion(s)
• 3 thin spring onions
• salt and pepper
• sesame oil
• sesame
• Soy sauce
• brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk, whisked
• 3 cloves garlic

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in water for 2 hours before cooking. Cut the meat into bite-sized, thin pieces. Chop the squeezed shiitake mushrooms into small pieces and add them to a bowl with the meat. Mince one of the garlic cloves and add it. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, pepper to taste, and 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and mix everything together. Massage it into the meat with your hand. Cover and let it rest in the refrigerator. Whisk the egg yolk with a pinch of salt, pour it flat into a pan, and fry on both sides. It should be about as flat as a crêpe. Once cooled, cut into thin strips and set aside. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile, wash the spinach. Add a little salt to the boiling water and blanch the spinach for one minute. Scoop out the water and let it continue to boil. Then rinse the spinach with cold water. Squeeze out the water, place it in a bowl, and add a teaspoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix and let rest. Add the glass noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions. Cut the carrot and bell pepper into thin strips and set aside separately. Slice the onions into thin rings and chop the garlic. Cut the spring onions into 4 shorter stalks. Slice the mushrooms. When the glass noodles are cooked, drain and set aside. If the noodles are too long, cut them shorter. Place them in a large bowl and mix with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of sesame oil and set aside. Now, fry the onions and spring onions in a pan with a pinch of salt until they are nice and translucent; the white part of the spring onions should look a little wilted. Add to the noodles. Next, fry the mushrooms with a pinch of salt until translucent. Then add to the noodles. Next, add the carrots to the pan and fry for 40 seconds, then add the bell peppers and fry them along with the rice. The vegetables should still have a little crunch. Then add them to the noodles. Then add the marinated meat to the pan and fry until nothing is pink and the shiitake mushrooms are well cooked. Also add them to the noodles. Mince a clove of garlic and add it. Add sesame seeds to taste. Add the sliced ​​eggs and spinach. Add a generous tablespoon of soy sauce and a level tablespoon of sugar. Add pepper to taste and another tablespoon of sesame oil. Mix everything together well; this works best by hand. Season to taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Serve and enjoy this delicious japchae.