Japchae, Korean Stir-fry Noodle dish

Japchae is a Korean stir-fry noodle dish. It has a lot of prep work and ingredients, but don’t let its lengthy prep time scare you. It is fairly simple to make. Once you’ve finish making Japchae, you’ll be rewarded with a tasty meal for lunch or dinner for a few days (depending on how many people are eating this). For 2 people, we have this for lunch for at least 2-3 days.

Japchae
½ lb. beef cut into small strips
2 eggs
1 medium size carrot cut into match sticks
1/2 red bell pepper cut into small strips
1 small onion sliced into small strips
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch of spinach (about 5 cups of uncooked spinach)
2 scallions (1 for cooking, 1 for garnish)
5 cloves garlic (3 for meat, 2 for spinach)
1 + 2 Tbs Sesame oil (1 for the meat, 2 for the sauce)
1/3 cup + 2 Tbs soy sauce (1/3 cup for sauce, 2 Tbs for meat)
1/4 cup +1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs mirin
1 Tbs sesame seeds
Chili paste (optional)
salt and pepper

1. Marinate the beef- Combine 2 Tbs soy sauce, 1 Tbs sugar, 1 Tbs sesame oil, 1 Tbs mirin, 3 cloves of minced garlic to meat and mix.
2. Set aside and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Make the sauce- Combine 1/3 cup soy sauce, ¼ cup + 1 Tbs honey, 2 Tbs sesame oil, and 1 Tbs sesame seeds.
4. Stir until honey dissolves.
5. Beat eggs in a bowl and sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt.
6. In skillet on medium heat, add eggs and let it cook on one side.
7. Once edges have set, turn the other side over to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
8. Remove egg and cut into strips and set aside.
9. Bring a medium sized pot of water to boil.
10. Add the 2 cloves crushed garlic.
11. Add spinach to boiling water for 40 seconds.
12. Drain and rinse in cold water and squeeze access water.Set aside in large bowl.
13. Boil sweet potato noodles in spinach water and cook for 5 minutes or according to packaged instructions and set aside in bowl.
14. Add 2-3 Tbs of sauce to noodles and mix.
15. Add a 1 Tbs of vegetable oil to pan and  stir fry veggies- starting with carrots stir fry for 1-2 minutes, add bell pepper stir fry for another 1-2 minutes, add mushrooms and onions and cook until all vegetables have just soften.
16. Season with 1/4 tsp of salt and pepper.
17. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and add to large bowl.
18. Add 2-3 Tbs of the sauce to the vegetables and mix.
19. On same pan that vegetables were cooked in, add 1 Tbs of oil on high heat.
20. Stir fry beef with scallions until liquid has reduced and meat is cooked through.
21. Add to large bowl.Mix all ingredients.
22. Add the rest of sauce and mix again.
23. Add egg and fold to incorporate.
24. Add green onions to garnish.