Korean Japchae

Whoa! I spied a new solution to my ancestral (at least one generation 😉 craving for pasta—gluten free pasta that is.

Whilst strolling the isles at my favorite Anchorage food store (New Sagaya) and wishing I could read Korean and Japanese, I found these amazing gluten-free noodles with just one ingredient on the package: sweet potato. I read it again, yup just sweet potato. Now here is a food, a real food with ingredients that don’t require a chemistry degree to decipher.

At a whopping 47 carbohydrates per serving this is not going to be part of any weight loss plan, but for any of us at our ideal weight or who just “need” the occasional pasta fix, it is simple, cost effective and goes with just about any sauce you might care to create.

Tonight I made it into a more traditional Korean dish, maybe tomorrow I’ll see how it serves underneath red sauce and hot Italian sausage.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

12 oz package Hanmi Korean style starch noodles (100% sweet potato starch)
pot of boiling water
½ cup Organic chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ inch piece of ginger root, peeled and minced
2 Tbs peanut butter
1 Tbs wheat free tamari
1 Tbs sesame oil
3 tsp rice vinegar
4-8 drops hot oil

½ cup julienned carrots
½ cup broccoli florets
6-8 crimini mushrooms, sliced

⅓ cup sliced green onions
½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
optional: white sesame seeds, black flax seeds, cashew pieces or peanuts as garnish

Preparation:
1. Make sure the vegetables are all cleaned and prep’d.
2. Place the starch noodles in a large bowl, breaking the long pieces to 4 inch lengths or so.
3. Pour boiling hot water over the noodles and set aside—note: do not soak noodles too long, about 10 minutes.
4. Mix together the chicken broth and next 7 ingredients. A Magic Bullet is helpful.
5. Place sauce in the bottom of a sauté pan and begin to heat. Add the carrots, broccoli and mushrooms.
6. Saute the vegetables in the sauce quickly until just tender—do not over cook. Remove from heat.
7. Drain the noodles in a colander and transfer to a serving dish.
8. Pour the vegetables and sauce mixture over the noodles and toss well.
9. Garnish as you wish with green onions, cilantro, seeds and/or nuts.