Easy Jap Chae (Korean Sweet Potato Glass Noodles)

Oh I'm such a big fan of these chewy springy sweet potato noodles. I made these in year 2008 when I was testing Jaden's cookbook. That was a fantastic recipe by the way!  One thing have changed is that due to the growing population of Koreans in Australia, it's so much easier to grab a packet of the noodles now! and cheap! Cost me AU$2 instead of AU$8 when I first bought them!

I have since adapted a few things- pretty much to suit our taste buds, and my love for chili. I had some pork mince at hand (From the sausage rolls!), so I decided to pop that through as well.

It's so simple as well. A quick after work 20 minutes meal!

Easy Jap Chae (Korean Sweet Potato Glass Noodles)
1 packet of sweet potato noodles
1/2 cup of black fungus soaked in warm water, washed and chopped the hard bits off
1 red onion sliced
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
200 grams of pork mince
1 carrot shredded
1 capsicum shredded
1 bunch of spring onions, cleaned and chopped to finger lengths
2-3 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
sesame seeds
dash of pepper

Cook sweet potatoes in boiling pot of water. Drain and rinse with cold water to get the starch out.

Saute garlic and onion till cook. Brown pork mince. Add all the veges and toss well. Add the sauces. Simmer for 5 mins. Add the noodles and fry it. Taste and season accordingly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and toss again dish up, and sprinkle more sesame seeds.

Chicken Bibimbup

There is a recent new wave of Korean Restaurants in Perth. I tried it a few months ago, and I'm hooked! simply adore those tiny side dishes that they serve with the main meal. AR isn't a fan of kimchi but that means I get to eat more of it! =)

We met up with a friend a few months ago for a catch up at a tiny Korean eatery. I ordered my first bibimbup and absolutely love the spicy kick + runny egg on a hot bowl of rice. Then we tried the stone bowl version-which was soo sooo good. The meal remained hot even after 25 minutes on a cold wintery day.

I spotted a tub of spicy paste at a Korean supermarket but wasn't able to understand its instructions. Thank goodness for food bloggers-because I pop a question to peony and she gave me the leads on what paste is needed to make bibimbup. It's easy to prepare at home and what is there not to love-especially since there are less dishes to wash after serving.

I dare not say this is the authentic version-far from it! Still, it's lovely to enjoy this dish at home and is budget friendly too! One thing I will change though-I will add crisp seaweed to it the next time round!



Chicken Bibimbup (serves 2)
2 generous tablespoon of Korean Hot paste
1to 2 pieces of chicken breast or thigh-chopped
garlic
1 cup of rice
2 eggs

Sides
Sesame Shitake Mushrooms
1 cup of dehydrated mushrooms, chopped
2 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp of sugar
1tablespoon of soya sauce


1 cup of bean sprouts blanched
1 tsp of sesame oil

1 carrot, julienne.

1) Marinate chicken in bibimbup paste.

2) Cook rice.

3) Quickly saute chicken with garlic. Keep warm and set aside.

4) Quickly marinate mushrooms with sesame oil, sugar and soya. Saute it for 2 minutes. Sprinkle sesame seeds.

5) I like my carrots slightly soft-so I blanched it with hot water and fry it for 3 minutes with some sesame oil. Same thing with bean sprouts.

6) Spoon rice into seperate bowls. Assemble chicken and other sides around the rice.

7) Fry up the egg. Make sure the yolk is still runny. Dish egg into bowl.

8) Serve with more hot paste sauce.

Check out Tigerfish's salmon version of this dish.