Japchae (Korean Noodles and Vegetables)
prep & cook time: 01:00 serves: 4 cost: $6.15 vegetarian
	This recipe is one we learned from our former housemate. If you are having trouble finding the sweet potato starch noodles, which are available in most Asian food stores and are colorless and resemble spaghetti, you should try this dish with any noodles you can find. But the colorless noodles are what makes this dish so unique. Jules likes to tell guests that they're made from fried worms, and indeed many of our most gullible friends (Gary, Colm, etc.) believe to this day that they are worms, and avoid or cherish them accordingly. We, being after all physicists of one sort or another, are more skeptical. There may or may not be nutritional information on the bag that the noodles come in, but the writing is in some set of Asian characters that we don't understand. They could be worms...
5 dried shiitake mushrooms 5 pieces black fungus 4 medium carrots 1 medium onion 1 bunch scallions 5 large mushrooms 6 oz bean sprouts vegetable oil salt 12 oz sweet potato starch noodles 3 eggs (optional) 1/2 c soy sauce 1 t sugar freshly ground black pepper	Start by soaking the dried mushrooms and dried fungus in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Fill a large pot with water for the noodles and a small one for blanching the sprouts and start to heat both pots. Peel carrots and cut them into matchstick-sized pieces by slicing them at an angle and then chopping them in the other direction. Cut the onion in half and then into half slices which are approximately 1/8" wide. Cut scallions in 2" lengths (at an angle) Cut stems off mushrooms and cut into 1/4" slices Drain and rinse dried mushrooms when they are soft. Cut the stems off the mushrooms and cut into 1/4" slices. Drain and rinse the fungus when soft and trim the hard middle part. Squeeze the water out of them and chop coarsely. Now, blanch the sprouts by putting them in boiling water for 2 minutes and then draining them. Sauteˇ each vegetable in turn in a large frying pan by heating up approximately 2 T oil in a pan over medium high heat, adding the vegetables and 1/2 t salt, and stir frying them. After each vegetable is done, dump the contents of the frying pan in a large bowl and sautˇ the next. Sauteˇ carrots briefly until they start to turn color. Sautˇ onions until they are almost clear, separating the onion layers as you stir. Sauteˇ scallions 1 minute Sauteˇ mushrooms until tender Sauteˇ dried fungus 2 minutes Sauteˇ shiitake mushrooms 2 minutes Put the noodles into boiling water and cook for approximately 10 minutes. You don't want the noodles crunchy, but you don't want them mushy either. While the noodles are boiling, separate the eggs into whites and yolks and beat them. Fry each component separately in a thin omelette so it sort of looks like a pancake. Cut these into 3/4" wide strips. This is for the garnish. Drain the noodles and run some cold water on them. Then add 1/4 c soy sauce and the sugar to the vegetables in the bowl. Stir well. Add the noodles and 1/4 c more soy sauce to the bowl and stir really well. Add black pepper (lots!) to taste.
"I'm going to lie down and take a nap now. You go on and eat." Leonardo da Vinci