Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp roasted white sesame seeds
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 ½ cups shiitake mushrooms, fresh or rehydrated, thinly sliced
• 250g Korean sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon)
• 4 whole bunches of spinach, leaves and stems
• 2 eggs
• Cooking oil
• 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned, ~4cm lengths
• 6 small or 3 large spring onion, cut in half lengthwise and ~4cm lengths
• 1 small daikon, peeled and julienned, ~4cm lengths

Method

1. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, sesame seeds and pepper in a mixing bowl and marinate the sliced shiitake in this mixture
2. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, remove the noodles from the pot into a bowl and keep the water simmering
3. Use the same noodle water to blanch the whole spinach for 1 minute, drain the spinach in a colander and set aside
4. Separate the yolks and whites in two separate bowls
5. Heat a pan with some cooking oil on low heat, whisk the whites and pour into a thin layer and cook both sides. Remove the cooked white from the pan and repeat for the yolk. Set aside
6. Using the same pan, add a little more cooking oil and cook the carrots with a pinch of salt for ~2 minutes, remove from pan and set aside
7. Repeat step 6 with the spring onions
8. Using a draining spoon, fish the shiitake from the liquid and repeat step 6 but cook for ~4 minutes
9. Lastly add the cooked noodles to the pan with 2 tbsp of the marinade liquid and ¼ cup water, let simmer stirring throughout  for ~2 minutes and remove from the pan
10. Finely slice egg whites and yolks
11. Cut the roots off the spinach and cut into ~4cm lengths
12. Combine the noodles, spinach, carrot, spring onion, shiitake, daikon and remaining marinade liquid
13. Garnish with the egg whites and yolks.