Not sure if the quality of this dish fits this sub but it tasted amazing to me.
Recipe is not mine. I used this recipe here with some key differences based on what I’m used to/what I like.
- I skipped the marinade step, as well as the white pepper, corn starch and salt.
- I used pork belly instead of ground pork, cut into tiny pieces about 1/3rd of an inch cubes. I cook this directly instead of doing any marinading. Even oil is optional as the pork belly has more than enough oil to “fry” the sauce. I would cook the pork until a lot of the fat/oil has been extracted out before adding the garlic/ginger/star anise. This is what I “fry” the sauce with.
- I omitted the shiitake mushrooms.
- I added a couple of star anise. I add this in with the garlic and ginger. After the sauce is done, fish them out and discard.
- Nearing the completion of the sauce I add a bunch of green onions. Around 2 stalks.
- I don’t remember the recipe mentioning this but this is a critical step in my opinion. After simmering the sauce for 15-20 minutes you will likely need to make sure the sauce is not too thin otherwise it will not cling to the noodles. The consistency you want is around what pasta sauce is. If the sauce is too thin bring the sauce to a boil, uncovered and keep boiling and stirring until the thickness is correct. If you over thicken it, just add some water.
So normally when I make this I make a bunch of sauce like you would with pasta sauce. Then you can freeze it or refrigerate for later use.
To make a bowl, cook some wheat noodles (this is the most traditional noodles to eat it with but nothing stops you from using different noodles). Top the noodles with as many or few of the following: carrots (match sticks), cucumbers (match sticks), and bean sprouts (cooked by dipping in boiled water for about a minute). And of course some of the sauce. Just toss the noodles until it’s coated with the sauce and eat it as is.
Some people like to also top it with some minced fresh raw garlic for a spice kick.
This dish is very popular. So popular that China, Korea and Japan all have their own versions of this dish. I’ve listed their names below with a brief description in case anyone wants to try making the other variants.
- Zha Jiang Mian - Chinese, this is probably the saltiest variant.
- Jajangmyeon - Korean, this variant is generally sweeter. It also has a lot more veggies in the sauce so it’s probably healthier (?). The sauce also uses a darker sauce base so the end result is a sauce that is almost black. This is generally how you can distinguish it in photos.
- Jajamen - Japanese, this is probably the least popular of the three. It’s much milder compared to the other too versions because it uses much milder ingredients. Instead of very salty bean pastes as a sauce base, the Japanese version uses miso.
Looks like an umami bomb. What is it made of?
Pork belly, dark soy sauce, scallions, yellow bean paste, sweet bean paste, ginger, garlic, star anise, salt.
The Star Anis seems like an odd choice, but I’m eager to try it. You eat it with rice or some kind of bread I presume?
You eat it with noodles. It’s like “pasta sauce” in a way. The name is zha Jiang Mian which translates to fried sauce noodles. The picture only shows the sauce. You can see it assembled more in the picture below. I’ll add a comment to this post to explain what recipe I used and how to eat it.
Delicious. I’m all for a savory sauce you can produce a lot of in one go
I like how there are so many ways to spell the name of this dish depending on the country it’s made in.
You know it’s good because China, Korea and Japan all have their own versions of the dish.
Edit: I added a comment below the recipe linking all 3 variants of it in case anyone wants to try them all. In my opinion the Korean and Chinese versions are probably the best ones. The Japanese one is kind of disappointing after you’ve tried all three.
its the miso paste. it doesnt hit as hard as the fermented blackbean paste for the dish that the chinese and korean versions use, both unapologeticly adding more flavor on top of it (with chinese version being more spicy or savory, and the korean one being overly sweet)
Where pickled radish?
Hmm never had it with pickled radish before.
Oh I just like it as an accent for pretty much any Korean dish. Your sauce looks great.
I see. The version shown here is the Chinese version. I’ll consider trying it with pickled radish next time.
But where’s the mian? 😜
I posted it in a reply to someone else. But for Zha Jiang Mian, the sauce is definitely the star of the show.
This looks absolutely amazing and I wish it was in my mouth
Thanks for sharing your cooking with us!!
