How Many Calories in Japchae?

Also known as 잡채, Korean Glass Noodle Stir-fry, Chapchae, Sweet Potato Noodles.

Japchae is sweet potato glass noodles stir-fried with beef, spinach, carrot, onion and mushrooms in soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Served at every Korean celebration and as a banchan or a rice topping.

380kcal / 1 plate (200g)

A 200g plate of japchae is about 380 calories, using the fatsecret.kr figure of 190 kcal per 100g. Around 180 of that is the glass noodles, which are almost pure sweet potato starch, and about 90 comes from the sesame and cooking oil. Japchae-bap, japchae over rice, is roughly 670.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 plate (200g) (200g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	380 kcal	190 kcal
Protein	9 g	5 g
Carbs	58 g	29 g
Fat	13 g	7 g

Where the calories come from

Sweet potato glass noodles, cooked120g

180 kcal

Beef strips30g

55 kcal

Spinach, carrot, onion, mushroom60g

25 kcal

Sesame oil and cooking oil10g

90 kcal

Soy sauce and sugar15g

30 kcal

The real talk

Glass noodles look light because they are clear. They are not. Dangmyeon is sweet potato starch and nothing else, so 120g of cooked noodles is 180 calories and 43g of carbs with almost no protein. The vegetables are the only part that is mostly water, and they are outnumbered about 2 to 1 by noodles on a typical plate.

The oil is the second surprise. Japchae is stir-fried in vegetable oil and then finished with sesame oil, and 10g of oil across a 200g plate is 90 calories. Add 15g of sugar and soy in the seasoning and about 30 more. That is why a dish that reads as vegetables and noodles ends up at 380, the same as a bowl of kimbap.

As a banchan, a 60g side scoop is only about 115 calories and fine. As japchae-bap at a Korean Chinese restaurant for 8,000 won, it is a 300g plate of noodles on 200g of rice with a fried egg, which fatsecret.kr lists at 673. Same ingredients, three times the portion.

How the portions compare

115 kcal

Banchan scoop (60g)

380 kcal

1 plate (200g)

670 kcal

Japchae-bap (with rice and egg)

Japchae variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Vegetable-only japchae, 200g	340 kcal	No beef, slightly less oil
Standard japchae, 200g	380 kcal	Beef and vegetables
Bibigo packaged japchae, 322g	390 kcal	Full pack
Japchae-bap, 1 plate	670 kcal	Over rice with fried egg

How to eat it lighter

Treat it as a side, not a main. A 60g banchan scoop is about 115 calories; a 200g plate is 380.
Ask for extra vegetables or add your own spinach and mushrooms at home. They are about 25 calories per 100g.
At home, cut the oil to 5g per serving and use the sesame oil for aroma at the end only. That saves 45 calories a plate.
Add more beef. 60g of lean beef instead of 30g doubles the protein to about 18g for 50 extra calories.
Skip japchae-bap. Rice plus glass noodles is two starches on one plate, about 670 calories.

Common questions

Are glass noodles lower in calories than regular noodles?

No. Cooked dangmyeon is about 150 kcal per 100g, close to cooked wheat noodles, and it is nearly all starch with no protein.

Is japchae healthy?

As a side it is fine, about 115 calories per scoop with real vegetables. As a 200g main it is 380 calories with only 9g of protein, so it needs meat or egg alongside.

How many calories in japchae-bap?

About 670 for the restaurant plate: japchae over 200g of rice with a fried egg.

Is japchae gluten free?

The noodles are, since they are sweet potato starch. The soy sauce usually is not, unless it is a gluten-free brand.

Related foods

Bulgogi

330 kcal per 1 serving (200g cooked, no rice)

Bibimbap

610 kcal per 1 bowl

Jajangmyeon

797 kcal per 1 bowl

Kimbap

400 kcal per 1 roll

Ramyeon

575 kcal per 1 pack cooked with 1 egg

Jjamppong

690 kcal per 1 bowl

See all Noodles calories, ranked ›

Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical restaurant or pojangmacha serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

Calorie figure based on fatsecret.kr 잡채 190 kcal per 100g, scaled to a 200g plate. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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