Chapchae (Korean stir fried glass noodle)

 

Driving home from work today, I was thinking of what I can put on the dinner menu in this kind of heat. Obviously, we don't want anything hot or soupy in this already scorching hot  weather. Everyday is a puzzle for me of what to make for dinner. Work has drained me out, so I don't want to overuse my brain for little things like this. But let me tell you, it is not easy to come up with a healthy meal to serve my hungry family, something that will suit everybody taste. 

Anyway, I remembered I still have a bag of this Korean glass noodle that I got not that long ago. Ding...ding...ding... that's it! We will have Chapchae for dinner (a Korean stir fried noodle dish). All in one dish and not too hot for the weather either. Perfecto! 

This is actually my first time making Chapchae, but how hard could it be right? If you know the basic of stir fried noodle then you should not have any problems shaking up this dish. There is actually a recipe in the back of the noodle bag showing how to make this dish. So I somewhat followed the directions for the recipe and somehow twisted a little to make my own version. The result was a very healthy, refreshing and delicious dinner!

 Ingredients:

1. 1 bag of Korean glass noodle (about 1 lb)

2. 1/2 lb of shrimps (peeled, deveined)

3. 4 oz of pork belly, thinly sliced (you can also use beef)

3. 1 cup of fried tofu

4. 1 bunch of spinach (washed, blanched, rinsed then squeeze out most of the water)

5. 1/2 carrot (julienne) 

6. 1/2 onion (sliced)

7. 5-6 shitake  mushroom or button mushroom (sliced)

8. 2 eggs

9. sesame oil (3 tbsp), soy sauce (1/4 cup), sweet soy sauce (3 tbsp), sugar (2 tsp) , black pepper, mushroom seasoning (1 tsp) -- combine all the sauces and seasoning ingredients in a bowl

10. Minced garlic

- Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodle for 10 minutes, drained, rinsed and set aside

- In a large wok, beat up the eggs with some mushroom seasoning and make a thin layer of egg omelet. Flip and remove from heat, slice into thin strips

- In the same wok, add oil and garlic, fry until fragrant then add in pork and shrimps (you can pre-marinate the meat and shrimps with some mushroom seasoning, pepper and sugar) . Cook until brown, then add in the mushroom, onion, carrot, and spinach and season with a couple tbsp of the soy sauce mixture. 

- Add in the noodle and the remaining soy sauce mixture, stir fry for 5-10 minutes. Add thin egg strips and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds on top before served.