Vegan Japchae!

Japchae (잡채) is one of my favorite Korean dishes.  It's main ingredient is Dangmyoen (당면) a clear, glass noodle usually made from sweet potato starch.  Japchae is often accompanies other dishes, like Korean BBQ, however Chris and I make it our main meal sometimes.  Japchae has noodles, vegetables, and often beef, but as a vegetarian we put a Vegan twist on this receipe and use tofu. (I wanted to try Tempeh, since it's much better for you than tofu, but unfortunately the grocery store I had to stop by last minute didn't have it so we used tofu.)  Now feel free to do your own research and search Japchae recipes, ours is a pretty simple one.  Also, since we live on a budget, we don't use fancy mushrooms and such, but if you can afford it I'd imagine it'd add some great flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 carrot 
• 1 bunch of spinach 
• 6 mushrooms 
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 package of firm tofu
• 2 teaspoon of Seasame Oil

Sauce for the Japchae:

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce (I recommend a Korean brand)

1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar (firmly packed, and we used Coconut Brown Sugar and it worked out great)

Here are the directions for the recipe.  We got this Japchae recipe from Chow.com.  I've tweaked the recipe a bit to include our specific ingredients.  

1. Bring a large saucepan of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the noodles, stir to separate them, and boil until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cool. Using scissors, cut the noodles into 6- to 8-inch lengths. With the noodles still in the colander, drizzle with 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil and toss to coat; set aside.
2. Mix the soy sauce and sugar together in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved; set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots have softened, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes.
4. Increase the heat to medium high. Add the spinach and, using tongs, toss to combine. Let cook until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Add the reserved noodles and soy sauce mixture and toss until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Now tasty, wonderful, VEGAN Japchae is all yours to devour!