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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PrintVegan 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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Love this recipe! Gluten free, full of veggies and flavour. It’s become a weekly staple. I like how I don’t have to cook all the veggies separately, but the integrity and flavour of the dish remains. Thank you Lisa!
I love this approach where I don’t need to cook each vegetables separately 😉 and they still taste amazing! Honestly this is even better than the ones that I order from the restaurants in Malaysia. I also did minor twist where I replaced the noodle with shirataki noodles, and they still turns out amazing!
This was so good! Used lots of other random veggies I had (shredded cabbage, red pepper) and it turned out awesome. Used extra firm tofu instead. And we tried chili crisp on top, that was a great finisher! Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe, can’t wait to make it again.
The recipe was so delicious and simple! My daughter, who is the pickiest eater on the planet, loves the noodles and veggies (which she also normally doesn’t touch). Even my husband devoured it. Will be making again!
This recipe was so delicious and simple! My daughter, who is the pickiest eater on the planet, loves the noodles and veggies (which she also normally doesnt touch). Even my husband devoured it. Will be making again!
Fantastic recipe and it came together so quickly!
I’m vegetarian so this recipe was perfect…..according to Ayurveda, sweet potato is one of the best foods so I am glad I can make this, as I am trying to cut down on wheat and rice. I will just add some green chilles next time to make it spicier.
Absolutely delicious and super easy to make! I would recommend making a bit more sauce though, but that may be because we like our food saucy hehe
Delicious! My whole family loved it, even my dad who is a huge meat eater. Highly recommend!!
This recipe was so good, I’ve already made it two more times 😋 I’ve been wanting to try japchae for so long and I’m glad I found this recipe to do it. So simple and so delicious
So happy to hear this was a hit for you, Tiffany! Thanks for sharing 🙂