Jap-Chae #2

Happy Wednesday guys!  I can't believe the awesome weather we're having!  It's been in the 60's all week and it's supposed to continue to be that way throughout the rest of the week.  Definitely going to try to get outside sometime this weekend!

I'm pretty excited because I'm getting ready to order my seeds for this year's garden.  I've got a couple new tactics to get rid of some of the "pests" without using anything harmful.  So hopefully we'll have a bigger and more successful bounty than last year!

Alright.  Jap-Chae.  It's a Korean noodle dish, that I find really resembles the Filipino Pancit.  Of course, being Filipino, I'm a little partial to pancit, but Jap-Chae is pretty delicious too.  And hell... it's just fun to say.  This is my second attempt at Jap-Chae (the first you can find here) and I think this was a little bit more successful... and prettier, of course.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Tastespotting The Blog's recipe

8 oz. vermicelli rice noodles
2 cups spinach, washed
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 large carrots, peeled and julienned
3 scallions, green parts only, sliced
8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
1/8 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
black and white sesame seeds,  optional

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook rice noodles until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.  Set noodles aside in a large bowl.

Using same pot as noodles, fill back up with water and bring to a boil.  Toss in spinach and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute.  Drain and squeeze out any liquid.  Place spinach on paper-towel lined bowl to soak up any excess liquid. 

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook until just soft, about 5 minutes.  Add carrots, scallions and mushrooms to pan.  Cook until everything is soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add cooked spinach, onions, carrots, scallions and mushrooms to the large bowl with the vermicelli noodles.  Drizzle sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, and salt over noodles.  Toss everything in the bowl together with tongs or you can get primal with it and use your hands.

Sprinkle with white and black sesame seeds to garnish.

This was a pretty tasty meal and a better version than my first, that's for sure!  It's perfect because it can be served at room temperature or cold, so leftovers are definitely ideal!  And hey, we didn't even miss the meat!





And by the way, Nutella Cupcakes won last Friday's poll so be on the lookout for those to come up soon!  Enjoy your Wednesday guys!