For every birthday in my family, we always eat japchae (잡채), a dish made from sweet potato noodles. It is usually served at special occasions. While it is sometimes served with beef, japchae originated as a vegetarian dish. The name includes the characters jap (잡) meaning "mixed" and chae (채) meaning "vegetables" (the same character in the title of this blog). Thus, japchae literally means "mixed vegetables."
The current version of this dish includes sweet potato noodles and usually has mushrooms, spinach, and carrots. You can find sweet potato noodles at most Asian supermarkets, or you can serve this dish without the noodles, just make sure to reduce the seasonings or add more vegetables to balance out the flavors.
