Once a royal dish, japchae is now one of the most popular traditional celebration dishes, often served on special occasions, such as weddings, birthdays (especially dol, the first birthday, and hwangap, the sixtieth), and holidays.[6][5][7] It is also popular at banquets, parties, and potlucks, due to the ease of bulk preparation and flexible serving: japchae can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator, and can be eaten freshly made or the day after.[3][4]
Japchae is commonly served as a banchan (side dish), though it may also be eaten as a main dish. It is sometimes served on a bed of rice: with rice, it is known as japchae-bap (잡채밥).
Etymology and history
The Sino-Korean wordjapchae (잡채; 雜菜) consists of two syllables, jap (잡; 雜) meaning "mixed" and chae (채; 菜) meaning "vegetable".[6][8][7]
Japchae, like other royal dishes, was eventually adopted into the cuisine of common people. Its popularity increased later in the 20th century when cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch were introduced to Korea from China.[6][8] The noodles have since become an integral and primary ingredient of japchae. Beef and other meats have been added to the noodle dish, while experimentation and adaptations have led to many noodle-less variations made with seafood, herbs, peppers, bean sprouts, and other ingredients.[6]
Ingredients and preparation
Dangmyeon are pale grey, semi-transparent, chewy and elastic noodles made from sweet potato starch.[2][3] They are also known as "glass noodles", "cellophane noodles", or "sweet potato vermicelli".[2][3] The noodles may be soaked in water before cooking.[9] Noodles are sometimes soaked in hot water and then stir-fried.[10] The assortment of vegetables in japchae may vary, with typical ingredients including mushrooms, carrots, spinach, onions, egg and scallions.[4] Commonly used mushrooms are wood ear, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. Both beef and pork are commonly used for japchae.[4][6] Each ingredient is stir-fried separately before being mixed with boiled and drained noodles, and seasoned with soy sauce, sugar, chopped garlic and sesame oil.[2] The dish is usually garnished with toasted sesame seeds and chili threads, and served hot or cold.[9]
Varieties
Royal court dishes
Gyeoja-chae (겨자채)
Jokchae (족채) – made with shredded jokpyeon (trotter jelly) and vegetables