Making Japchae At Home

Hello friends!

It’s about time I share one of my favorite dishes to make that can be made 100% gluten-free without much of a fuss at all! Japchae is a Korean dish and its name translates to “mixed vegetables”. Yes–there are plenty of veggies all combined with sweet potato starch noodles in a slightly sweet sauce.

I’ve made this a handful of times and I’m just surprised I haven’t posted a review about it yet!

If you’re looking for a recipe to reference, then I highly recommend the Japchae recipe by RecipeTin Eats!

You can find the recipe right -> here!

The Noodles For the Japchae…

…can’t be just any noodles you find at the store. This dish requires sweet potato starch noodles. They’re these grey while dry noodles that cook in boiling water for only about 5 minutes before being drained and rinsed. They do not taste like sweet potatoes though, so if you’ve never had them…you’re not going to be adding in a flavor reminiscent of Fall side dishes. The texture is chewy and they pair wonderfully with sauces.

They are very much the star of this dish. Plus, these are gluten-free!!

But where do you find these noodles? I’d always recommend going to an Asian grocery store, like H-Mart to purchase these noodles. At the store you may also find sweet potato noodles that are of the wider variety. These are not the noodles you’re looking for. They must be vermicelli noodles.

If you do not happen to have an Asian grocery store, or even a World Market in your area, then you can certainly purchase them off Amazon.

Keeping Japchae Gluten-Free

This recipe linked is the typical recipe for Japchae, but not made gluten-free. The noodles themselves and the veggies keep the dish naturally gluten-free, but it’s the sauce and marinade we need to look to.

How do we keep that gluten-free? Use gluten-free soy sauce, like tamari :). That simple!!

Prepping Is Key When Making Japchae

Making this dish isn’t difficult at all, but the most “time consuming” part of this actually prepping everything. Japchae is made in batches. All the veggies are mixed in a large bowl with the noodles and sauce and then tossed together at the end.

Once you actually get to cooking, the process moves along very quickly, so having everything prepped ahead of time makes it so much easier and less overwhelming.

I’ll make a note that the recipe I linked above includes some ingredients that I did not include–and that’s just the red pepper. I chose to omit it and swapped in a cooked egg that I then sliced into ribbons. Both equally tasty!

Grey’s Grade: 5/5

This is absolutely one of my favorite recipes. I love how every veggie and noodle soaks up the sauce that waited patiently at the bottom of the bowl before everything was tossed. I also love the fact this is made 100% gluten-free so easily!

It’s always a bit more difficult to make Korean dishes gluten-free without having to search for gluten-free versions of the main ingredients. So with this being gluten-free with just one swap of an ingredient–it’s absolutely fabulous.

While you still need to purchase these special vermicelli noodles, they are accessible either by going to the store or ordering online. Not too much effort there.

So, if you’re gluten-free or just exploring different recipes, then I absolutely recommend making Japchae. It’s savory with all the veggies and cooked steak, but also slightly sweet from the sauce that coats the entire dish.

What are your favorite Korean dishes to make? Let me know in the comments below!

Check Out My Reviews!

• Should You Make A Pesto Chicken Lasagna?
• How To Make a Twix Cookie And Make It Gluten-Free
• Smoked Sausage and Rice One Pot Meal

If you enjoyed my review, don’t forget to like the post and leave a comment. Want more content, check out my socials!

And if you’d like to support my reviews and future subscription box reviews, consider checking out my Ko-Fi page!

Want to work together? Contact me!