Japchae Sauce (Korean Glass Noodle Sauce)

Japchae sauce is a bottled Korean seasoning made for japchae, the stir-fried dish of chewy sweet potato glass noodles (dangmyeon) with spinach, carrot, mushroom, onion and often beef. It combines the sweet, savoury and nutty flavours the dish is known for, so you can cook the noodles and vegetables, toss everything through the sauce and serve without measuring out each seasoning separately.

Toss it through hot, well-drained noodles so they absorb it evenly, then fold in the cooked vegetables. Start with a little less than the label suggests and taste before adding more, as bottles vary in sweetness and salt. It also works as a quick stir-fry sauce for vegetables or as a marinade base.

Ingredients

Japchae sauces are generally built on soy sauce with sugar or syrup, sesame oil, garlic and onion. Many contain wheat through the soy sauce, so check the label if you need a gluten-free option.