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Korean glass noodles are an amazingly delicious dish! This dish is made with special sweet potato starch noodles, which have a very firm, yet bouncy bite! It’s cooked in a delicious sweet and savory sauce that I know you’ll love! Give it a try and let me know what YOU think!

Watch how to make Korean Glass Noodles

What are Korean Glass Noodles?

As I mentioned above, this a delicious stir-fried noodle dish made with a unique sweet potato starch noodle. It has a much firmer bite compared to other stir-fried noodle dishes, like my Panda Express chow mein recipe. It also has a sweeter, nuttier taste that is just deliciously addictive!

These noodles are called chapchae in Korean. Also, interesting fact, chapchae was traditionally enjoyed exclusively by Korean royalty. These days, it’s enjoyed by everyone, rich or poor, but it’s still special enough to be served during important occasions like weddings, birthdays, and holidays.

Prepping the vegetables for Korean Glass Noodles

Let’s prep our vegetables, of which we need half an onion, sliced. A carrot, peeled and julienned. By the way, make sure to learn from a real chef on how to do this because I have no idea what I”m doing. Some chinese leeks, which you can substitute with green onions. And finally some mushrooms. I’m using maitake, but you can use shiitake, enokitake, or any other mushroom you’d like.

The special noodles you'll need for Korean glass noodles

The star of our dish is this: sweet potato starch noodles. The noodles themselves are called dangmyeon in Korean. They’ve got a translucent appearance when cooked and have a pretty firm, bouncy chew.

Because of that, you have to cut the noodles into a shorter length. Trust me, it’ll be really hard to eat these if you don’t. I’m using a pair of scissors, which is like the Korean kitchen super tool. Honestly, they use these to cut everything. After that, toss it with some sesame oil to add fragrance and to prevent it from sticking together in a giant clump.

Cooking up delicious Korean glass noodles

In a frying pan, add a bit of sesame oil and cook your vegetables over medium heat. Now as you’ll see, the vegetables all get cooked separately and removed from the pan. The carrots get a quick saute and come off, then the onions, and so on. I’m not sure about the exact reason, and even my mother-in-law didn’t know. My best guess is that you want to preserve the crunch of some vegetables like the carrots and onions. The leeks need less time to cook, and the mushrooms need a bit more time. But honestly, if you need to get dinner on the table ASAP, you can cook everything together.

Next we’re cooking some pork to go along with our noodles. I think beef is more commonly used, but this is what I had on hand. I’ve seen some people marinade the meat beforehand, which you can certainly do. I’d go with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and finely minced garlic and green onion. But if you don’t have time, just cook it with a little salt and pepper.

Now finely mince up some garlic and cook it with some sesame oil until it gives off that crazy delicious scent. Then you’re going to add in some soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. I’ve got some basic measurements for these in the description below, but honestly, Korean food is all about eye-balling the ingredients. As you get better at making this dish, you’ll definitely find yourself going off of taste and sight rather than measurements.

Now the noodles go in and get mixed in that delicious sauce.

Next throw in the vegetables. Since they’re pre-cooked, we just want to get them mixed in well with the noodles. And next comes the meat, which doesn’t need too much time on the heat since it’s fully cooked. The beauty of cooking everything separately is that we can get the best texture out of each ingredient.

Plate up your Korean Glass Noodles

Get the noodles out onto a plate and garnish them with some sliced green onions. This isn’t a fancy dish, so just place them in a large pile on a plate and prepare for some AWESOME noodles!

These noodles work so well as a main meal because of its heartiness. However, they also make the perfect side! Pair them up with some delicious spicy pork bulgogi or serve them with my favorite Korean silken tofu soup, and you’ll be eating like Korean royalty!

Korean Glass Noodles Ingredient Checklist

A trip to the local Asian market will do you a lot of good because this recipe does require the special sweet potato starch noodles. I don’t recommend using regular noodles, as it just won’t be the same!

Thinly sliced pork
Korean Glass Noodles (See it on Amazon) – This is a great brand and is ubiquitous all over Korea!
Onion
Carrot
Chinese leeks – You can substitute this with green onion
Mushrooms – Feel free to omit
Garlic
Soy Sauce (See it on Amazon) – I like this brand!
Sugar
Cooking Sake (See it on Amazon)
Sesame Oil (See it on Amazon)

These Korean Glass Noodles are a fantastic side or main!

With its unique texture and incredibly delicious flavor, these Korean Glass Noodles are a winner! Your family will love this and people at parties will be BEGGING you to make more!

Here are some of my favorite Korean dishes! Try them out!

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Japchae Korean Glass Noodles

These sweet and savory Korean noodles are perfect as a main dish or a side dish.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Course Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Servings 3

Calories 400 kcal

Ingredients

Thinly sliced pork 100g (Substitute with your choice of meat)
Korean glass noodles dangmyeon, 200g
Onion 1/2, thinly sliced
Carrot 1/2, julienned
Chinese leeks 1 small bunch, cut into 3 inch segments (Can be substituted with a few stalks of green onion)
Mushrooms 75g, sliced
Sesame oil for marinating and cooking
Garlic 2 cloves, finely minced

Noodle sauce

Soy sauce 2 tbsp
Sugar 1.5 tbsp
Sesame oil 2 tbsp

Instructions

*Optional* In a mixing bowl, marinade meat with 1.5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, and 2 tsp sesame oil. Set aside.
In a large pot, boil the noodles according to the directions on the package
Drain the noodles and place them in a large mixing bowl, DO NOT rinse them with water.
Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut the noodles several times in different areas.
Pour in about 1 - 2 tbsp of sesame oil with the noodles and toss well to coat. Set aside.
In a frying pan, cook the carrots with a bit of sesame oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until softened with a slight crisp, then remove from heat.
Continue the above step with the onions and cook until desired doneness, then remove from heat.
Continue the above step with the leeks and cook until desired doneness, then remove from heat.
Continue the above step with the mushrooms and cook until desired doneness, then remove from heat.
Cook the meat until completely cooked through and remove from the pan. If you are using unmarinaded meat, season with salt and pepper.
Heat the pan over med-high heat and cook the garlic in a bit of sesame oil for about a minute. Add in the (Noodle Sauce) ingredients and cook for another minute.
Add in the noodles and stir well to combine. Cook until the noodles take on a light-brown hue from the sauce.
Add in the vegetables and mix well to combine, followed the meat. Cook until everything is heated through.
Plate, garnish with sliced green onions, and serve immediately.

Video

Keyword easy recipe, korean food, noodles, quick dinner