Seafood Glass Noodle Stir-FryHaemul Japchae

Japchae is traditionally a special occasion dish — it shows up at Chuseok, at birthday tables, at gatherings where someone wanted to make something that looked impressive and tasted like the cook had put in real effort. The seafood version, haemul japchae, has the same format but with shrimp and squid instead of beef.

The glass noodles are the variable most people get wrong. I overcooked mine on the first attempt — left them in boiling water too long until they turned completely translucent and soft, then they clumped when I tried to stir-fry them. The solution is to cook them until barely done, rinse under cold water immediately to stop the cooking, then cut with scissors into manageable lengths. Toss with soy sauce and sesame oil right away so they absorb the seasoning and don't stick together.

The squid timing is the other critical point. Two to three minutes in a hot pan — shrimp turns pink, squid turns opaque. Both get rubbery if left longer. I remove them from the pan the moment they're done, stir-fry the vegetables separately, then bring everything together at the end.

I made haemul japchae for a large group once during a housewarming in Vancouver. A Colombian friend named Valentina had never had glass noodles before and asked whether they were rice-based. I explained they were made from sweet potato starch, which surprised her — she said they tasted like they should be much heavier than they actually were.

Haemul japchae looks like it requires technical skill but the steps are all straightforward. The key is not overcooking anything and combining everything at the very end.