Chapch'ae

Well, let me start with my dad's favorite dish....chapch'ae. I usually just pick on my favorite ingredients.....which gets my mom pretty mad but can't help it :) Before I start with the recipe, let me tell you a bit about this dish. Chapch'ae is a mixture of stir-fried vegetables and Chinese noodles, seasoned with sesame oil. Depending on the major ingredient, it can be called either toraji(bellflower root) chapch'ae, puch'u(scallion) chapch'ae, koch'u(red pepper) chapch'ae or bosot(mushroom) chapch'ae. Usually this dish is served for holiday dinners or for the birthday parties.

Ingredients (serves 4 persons)

100g lean beef
4 dried p'yogo(shiitake) mushrooms
10g dried mogi(Jew's ear) mushrooms
50g nut'ari(agaric) mushrooms, bellflower roots, onion, cucumber, carrots, mung bean sprouts
80g dangmyon(Chinese noodles)
1 egg
1 tbsp. pine nuts
soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, sesame salt, sugar

1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. minced scallions, minced garlic, sesame salt, sesame oil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1. Cut tender lean beef into thin strips.
2. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes and then remove the stems, squeeze the water out and cut them into thin strips.
3. Clean the agaric mushrooms, parboil them and tear them into small pieces.
4. Soak the Jew's ear mushroom, squeeze the water out and tear them into bite-sized pieces.
5. Mix the ingredients for the seasoning sauce. Mix beef and mushrooms with the seasoning sauce separately and stir-fry each in a preheated and oiled pan.
6. Slice the onion into thin strips and fry them with the beef.
7. Cut cucumbers into thin strips 5 cm long. Sprinkle them with salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Then squeeze the water out and stir-fry them.
8. Cut carrots into thin strips 5 cm long. Parboil in boiling salted water, drain and stir-fry.
9. Cut off head and tail of mung bean spouts. Parboil remaining stems in boiling salted water, drain and stir-fry.
10. Shred bellflower roots finely into thin strips 5 cm long, parboil in boiling salted water, drain and stir-fry.
11. Immediately, after frying, spread each ingredients on a separate plate to dry in order to prevent them from becoming soggy.
12. Separate egg white and yolk, and beat. Pour the egg yolk into a lightly greased frying pan and tilt the pan to make a thin sheet. Do the same for the egg white. When they are cooked, cut them into thin strips.
13. Cook Chinese noodles in boiling water following package directions. Cut into smaller pieces and mix with sesame oil and soy sauce to taste.
14. Remove the brownish tip of the pine nuts.

Mix all the prepared ingredients with the Chinese noodles and season with sesame salt, sesame oil and sugar to taste. Arrange it on serving dish and decorate it with the egg yolk and egg white strips and pine nuts.