This Vegan Japchae (잡채) recipe is a delicious gluten free and vegetable packed dish ready in under 30 minutes!
Hey everyone! First, I just wanted to welcome you to my new and re-branded food blog! You can read more about Okonomi Kitchen, the story behind it and what to expect moving forward but for now, let’s dive into todays delicious recipe: Vegan Japchae. I think as of today, I only have one Korean recipe on the blog which is the Korean BBQ Jackfruit Bowls using my Sugar-Free Korean BBQ Sauce. That needs to change because I LOVE Korean food! Bibimbap, jajamyeon, kimchi, ddukbokki, banchans (korean side dishes)… you name it. SO GOOD!
What is Japchae?
Japchae is a super popular Korean noodle dish you will find at any Korean restaurant. It’s popular for good reason, Japchae uses glass noodles made from sweet potatoes. They have this unique bouncy texture which works perfectly with the crunchy texture from all the vegetables. Typically, meat is used as the protein source but it can easily be replaced with tofu for a vegan or vegetarian version . You can find glass noodles in Asian markets in the Korean aisle, or where they sell all kinds of Asian noodles. They’re also very inexpensive to buy, making this dish really budget friendly!
Korean Cooking
Watching my Korean friends parents cook, I learned that it is very common to prepare and cook each ingredient separately. This may sound like a lot of work but if you have the time and patience, it’s totally worth it! You can ensure each ingredient is cooked properly and seasoned well so that nothing is undercooked or over-cooked.
How to make Vegan Japchae
However, if you’re like me (lazy and always in a hurry) you can get away with cooking the vegetables in one pan as you go IF you know how to time each vegetable correctly. I learned to time each vegetable by first cooking each ingredient separately so I highly recommend doing the same so you know what Japchae is suppose to taste like. The perfect Japchae has bouncy noodles, vegetables that retain their structure with a well balanced flavours of sweet, salty and nutty.
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Vegan Japchae
- Total Time: 25
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Description
This Vegan Japchae (잡채) recipe is a delicious gluten free and vegetable packed dish ready in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 package sweet potato noodles (250g)
- 1 package smoked firm tofu (300g)
- 1 medium zucchini (200g)
- 1 small carrot (130g)
- 1 medium onion (150g)
- 3 scallion stalks
- 3 garlic cloves
- 6 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated
- large handful of spinach
- sesame seeds
Sauce
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook sweet potato noodles following the directions on the package. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil to coat the noodles, and then use scissors to cut the noodles (around 3-4 times). In the same pot, add in the spinach and blanch for 30 seconds. Rinse with cold water and squeeze the excess liquid out using a towel. Chop the bundled up spinach in half.
- Slice all the vegetables into match stick sized pieces. They should all be relatively the same size. Cut the tofu into thin rectangles.
- Put all the sauce ingredients into a small bowl and stir.
- In a large wok, over medium high heat fry the smoked tofu with a little bit of sesame oil just until lightly browned on each side. Transfer into another bowl and set aside.
- In the same wok, fry onions and garlic for 1 minute. Then add in the shiitake mushrooms and carrot and fry for another minute. Add in the zucchini and scallions and fry for one more minute. Slightly turn down the heat and add in the noodles, spinach tofu and sauce. Toss and cook until all the sauce is all soaked up.
- Serve and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Entree
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 484
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Protein: 16g
SAVE IT FOR LATER!
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This was so satisfying! I added double the veggies and tofu to make it a bit more meal prep friendly and it was so so good. Highly recommend, will definitely be adding this to my go to recipes. Substituted the sugar for two stevia packets and it worked out pretty well.
This is such a delicious recipe! 10/10 would recommend. This was my first time making Japchae and it was bomb! I added about twice the amount of sauce added and had it with scrambled eggs on top. ありがとうございます！ごちそうさま。
Thank you so much Karina, that makes me so happy! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
I made this dish at least once a month, I’m obsessed with it. It has become one of my to go dish whenever I’m not sure what to make. I almost always have the ingredients in the fridge and it is so easy to make, packed with flavors, I’m in love haha.
Thank you for sharing this delicious Korean recipe with us!!
Me too! We make it so often and love that we can use veggies we have in the fridge– so glad you enjoyed this recipe!!
Very delicious & easy recipe. I love sweet potato noodles, this recipe is definitely a staple with the easy to find ingredients
So glad you enjoyed, Danica! 🙂
I’m making this for the third time in three weeks! So full of delishousness!! Thank you!
After making trying out other recipies… this one stands out. It’s so awesome and yummy. I tried it with some chicken and eggs it was delicious. Family loved it. Thank you so much Lisa
Absolutely love this recipe! I’ve made this dish at least three times now, it’s becoming one of my favorite meals, it’s so easy to make and it’s packed with flavors! So grateful that I know about this blog, all the recipes on it are too bomb! Thank you for everything Lisa!
Recently tried JAPCHAE at a Korean/japanese fusion restaurant by my house. And LOVED it.
I actually had a package of sweet potato noodles I was trying to sort outward to make for supper. And the recipe in the back was JAPCHAE. The original recipe calls for meat. And since I’m vegetarian I decided to look up a vegan one on Pinterest!
This recipe was so easy, simple and delicious. My boyfriend and I kept going back for more. And the sauce ingredients were minimal.
Can’t wait to make this again!
LOVED this recipe. I will make vegan japchae again soon. Thank you for sharing.
so easy and so delicious!!! A go to of mine when craving Asian but want to keep it healthy!!