Recipe Vortex

220 g Glass Noodles

1 tbsp Rapeseed Oil

1 Red Onion

1 Yellow Peppers

1 Jalapeno

1 Red Peppers

350 g Shiitake Mushrooms

160 g Spinach

400 g Firm Tofu

4 tbsp Gluten-Free Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Maple Syrup

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Rice Vinegar

Chilli Flakes to taste

Sesame Seeds to taste

Soak the glass noodles in a bowl with warm water for 10-15 minutes.

Then drain them well and keep them aside while you stir-fry the vegetables.

Thinly slice the onions, peppers, and mushrooms and dice the tofu into bite-sized cubes.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a wok or large skillet and stir-fry the prepared vegetables, spinach, and tofu.

You can stir-fry each ingredient separately in little oil starting from the lightest to the darkest coloured one, according to the classic recipe, or cook them all in one go if you're short on time.

Fry the vegetables for about 4-6 minutes, just enough for them to soften but still stay crunchy. For the tofu instead, aim to get the cubes nicely seared and crispy on all sides.

Set the stir-fried ingredients aside and transfer the soaked noodles into the wok.

Cook them for 5 minutes or until they soften.

Now, transfer the veggies and tofu back into the wok and tip the soy sauce, maple, sesame oil, and rice vinegar.

Season with salt and black pepper and stir-fry all for a 5 more minutes.

Finally, divide the japchae noodles among serving bowls and sprinkle them with chilli flakes and sesame seeds.

Vegan korean japchae with tofu chillies and sesameVegan korean japchae with tofu chillies and sesame

Tips

You can marinate the tofu cubes in a bowl with 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of maple, and 1 tsp of chilli flakes. Leave them to soak for 5-10 minutes and then stir-fry them in the wok following our recipe above.

Add shredded seaweed nori sheets ("gim" or "kim" in Korean) to the stir-fry to get extra nutrients and a deeper flavour.

You can find glass noodles also under the name of clear noodles, bean thread noodles, or cellophane noodles. They can be made from sweet potato starch, mung bean starch, tapioca, or arrowroot starch.

If you can't eat soy, replace soy sauce with coconut amino sauce or a mixture of balsamic vinegar and rice vinegar. Also, swap tofu cubes with other meat-free alternatives like seitan or Quorn, or use canned beans like adzuki or mung beans.