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Spicy Seafood Japchae
4.8 from 72 votes

Spicy Seafood Japchae

Spicy Seafood Japchae features Korean sweet potato starch noodles stir-fried with squid, shrimp, and various mushrooms and vegetables in a sauce that includes gochugaru chili powder for heat. Sesame oil and soy sauce balance the spice, while garlic and sugar add depth. The texture is a mix of chewy noodles and tender seafood with crisp vegetables.

Servings: 2
Course: Side Dish, Appetizer, Others

Ingredients

For the noodles
  • 4 ounces dangmyeon 당면 (Korean sweet potato starch noodles)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 to 1 tablespoon gochugaru preferably finely ground - see note
For the seafood and vegetables
  • 1 squid about 4 ounces, small
  • 8 Shrimp peeled and deveined, small
  • 1/4 onion thinly sliced, medium
  • ⅓ carrot cut into matchsticks, small
  • 2 to 3 shiitake mushrooms or mushrooms of your choice, thinly sliced, fresh
  • 2 ounces enoki mushrooms optional
  • 1 scallion sliced diagonally
  • salt
  • black pepper
Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Soak the noodles in warm water until soft (about 30 to 40 minutes), and drain.
  2. Clean the shrimp and squid. Cut the squid into bite size pieces.
  3. Prepare the vegetables, and mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
  4. Add the vegetable oil, sesame oil, and the gochugaru to a pan, and heat until hot over medium low heat, stirring. Remove from the heat as soon as the oil starts to turn red and the chili pepper flakes become a bit pasty. Do not burn the gochugaru.
  5. Turn the heat to medium, and add the noodles to the pan along with 1-1/2 tablespoons of the prepared sauce. Stir-fry until the noodles are soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
  6. Remove the noodles onto a plate. In the same pan, stir fry the onion for a minute, and then carrot and mushrooms until wilted. Add a tablespoon of water if the vegetables look dry. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
  7. Add the seafood and the remaining sauce, and stir-fry until the seafood is cooked through. Follow this by the scallion and optional enoki mushrooms until the scallions are slightly wilted.
  8. Return the noodles to the pan, and toss everything well together. You can add a bit more sugar and/or soy sauce to taste.

Notes

  • Grind regular gochugaru in a spice grinder for a finer texture and better flavor integration.
  • Adjust the amount of gochugaru used to control the dish's spiciness according to preference.
  • Include enoki mushrooms as an optional ingredient to add more texture and variety.