Japchae - Korean noodle dish

I miss the days when my best friend was a young mother from Korea.   She was a flutist and her two young daughters took piano lessons from me.  In addition to music, we quickly found that we had another passion in common:  FOOD!  Maria was an amazing cook!  Our families would get together often for potluck meals and fellowship.  Maria was skilled in the kitchen and introduced my family to bibimbop, dumplings, and other delicious Korean dishes.  Since Maria and her family moved away, I've missed her friendship and her cooking  with a longing that is almost palpable.

I hope to try my hand at bibimbop some day soon.  Although it doesn't seem hard, it involves a lot of individual steps that appear to be very time consuming.  In the meantime, I decided to dip my toe in the pool with this much easier recipe for Japchae, a dish made with starchy sweet potato noodles.  The noodles are readily available in any Asian market carrying Korean ingredients as this is a very popular dish in Korea.  I love the chewy texture of these noodles!


Ingredients:
1 lb Dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles)
1 T canola oil
5 dried shiitake mushrooms - soaked in hot water until soft, then squeezed dry and sliced thin
3 carrots, julienned
8 oz spinach
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced in medium-thin slices
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 green onions, chopped in one inch pieces
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 T sugar
1 T sesame oil
1 T sesame seeds, toasted


Method:
1.  Soak noodles in very hot water for about 15 minutes.  Drain.  Cut into 3 inch pieces and set aside.

2.  Place spinach in large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let wilt then drain and squeeze dry.

3.  Mix soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.

4.  Heat oil in large wok over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic, and green onions.  Stir-fry for about three minutes.

5.  Add noodles and soy sauce mixture.  Continue stir-frying, adding more oil if noodles stick to pan.

6.  Mix in the spinach and sesame seeds.

Note:  I like things spicy so I tossed in some red pepper flakes before adding the vegetables.  Many recipes also call for an egg, fried as an omelet and then sliced thin for garnish.