Abstract
The changes in ingredients, seasonings and cooking methods of Japchae in Korean cook books published from the 1600s to the 1960s were investigated in this study. Japchae was a royal dish enjoyed by Kwanhaegun of Joseon Dynasty and interesting historical story is contained in it. Kwanghaegun Ilgi in 1608 showed that Japchae was Kwanghaegun's favorite dish. Therefore, it has been thought that Japchae was created in the 17th century. Wonhaengeulmyojeongrieugye in 1796 described bellflower Japchae and mungbean sprout Japchae. The traditional Japchae was made without glass noodle called dangmyeon. Eumsikdimibang in 1670 first introduced traditional Japchae, which was made with 20 different ingredients and then served with topping sauce made of pheasant broth, strained soybean paste and wheat flour. Japchae in Kyugonyoram(1896) was prepared by mixing mungbean sprout, watercress, gonjasoni, tripe and yukhwe with mustard. The current style Japchae with glass noodle first appeared in the 1920s and became popular in the 1950s because the traditional Japchae was described in cook books until the 1940s. There were two ways of preparing current style Japchae. Yijogungjeongyoritonggo in 1957 described Japchae was made by mixing the boiled glass noodle with other ingredients and seasonings together. On the other hand, Japchae in Urinaraeumsikmandeuneunbeob(1960) was prepared by seasoning first with other ingredients, and then mixing boiled glass noodle. A variety of ingredients - vegetables, mushrooms, meat, fish, pheasant, beef tong, sea cucumber, gonjasoni and pear - has been used to prepare Japchae. Japchae has been seasoned with ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame salt, sesame oil, oil, leek, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar and mustard. Egg strips, pine nut, thin strips of Shiitake and stone mushroom, red pepper threads, Chinese pepper(cheoncho), black pepper and ginger were used for garnishing.
