Jap Chae

Next to my beloved Italian food my second favorite cuisine is Asian. I can't even pick a specific type of Asian food that I love because truly I don't discriminate. This was the first Korean dish I ever tried and I have to say I was a huge fan. I have a fully stocked Asian section of my local grocery store but they didn't carry sweet potato noodles. I used regular angel hair, which I think is probably criminal if you're going for authentic flavors, but I have an Asian grocery store by my house I'm going to check out so I can make this again. I think my favorite aspect of Asian cooking, particularly in Asian noodle dishes, is how you use very little sauce (unlike Italian pasta dishes) but the flavor is so strong that it perfectly coats the food without needing to be sopping in it. This dish was spicy and flavorful. The leftovers were just as good, which is rare. This is definitely one of my favorite dishes that I've made recently and I can't wait to make it again.

Source: So Tasty, So Yummy

Ingredients:
12 ounces sweet potato noodles (or angel hair if you can't find it)

½ lb chicken, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce

1 clove garlic, minced
3 carrots, shredded
1 zucchini, slivered
½ onion, cut into slivers
6 ounces mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds


Directions:
1- Prepare pasta according to packaging directions and set aside.
2- Combine meat, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, ginger, and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl, toss the meat to evenly coat. Let marinate while you prep all the vegetables.

3- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the marinating meat. Cook until meat is done, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan. Add carrots, zucchini, red onion, shitake mushrooms, and green onions. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from pan and add to plate with meat.

4- Place 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, sugar, and chili-garlic sauce to pan. Stir to combine. Add noodles to pan. Stir to coat and heat through. Return meat and vegetables to pan, and toss to combine. Drizzle sesame oil over the contents of the pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve.