chunjang

Jajangmyeon (noodles in a black bean sauce) is a popular Korean-Chinese dish. Learn how to make this restaurant favorite at home with this easy to follow recipe!

Jajangmyeon (noodles in a black bean sauce)

Korean

cooking oil

sugar

oyster sauce

chicken stock

potato or corn starch (dissolved in 1/4 cup of chicken stock

pork

ginger

soy sauce

onion

green cabbage

zucchini

cucumber

Have a pot of water ready to cook the noodles. Turn the heat on when you start cooking the meat. This way you will have the boiling water ready, for cooking the noodles, by the time the sauce is done.

Prepare the pork and vegetables by cutting them into 1/2 - 3/4 inch cubes. Marinate the pork with a tablespoon of rice wine (or mirin), ginger, salt and pepper while preparing the vegetables.

Add the black bean paste to a small saucepan with the oil, sugar, and the optional oyster sauce. Fry it over medium heat for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Heat a large pan with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium high heat. Add the pork and ginger and stir fry until no longer pink, adding a tablespoon of soy sauce half way through. 

Add the onion and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. 

Add the cabbage and zucchini and continue to stir fry until vegetables are softened. 

Stir in the black bean paste and mix everything together until all the meat and vegetables are coated well with the paste.

Mix everything together until all the meat and vegetables are coated well with the paste. If you like ganjjajang, you can stop here and skip the next two steps. See note.

Pour in the stock (or water) and bring it to a boil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the starch slurry and cook briefly until the sauce is thickened. Add more sugar to taste.

Add the noodles in the boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions and drain. Do not overcook. The noodles should have a firm bite to them (al dente). Place a serving size of noodles in each bowl. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and garnish with the optional cucumber matchsticks. Alternatively, you can serve over cooked rice. 

This dish is a Koreanified take on the fried sauce noodles served in the Shandong province of China. It occupies a similar place in Korean cuisine to the one General Tso’s chicken has in American food: a birth-country meal translated to accommodate the too-tired-to-cook takeout tastes of a host nation. It is milder than the Chinese original, a little more porky, the sort of dish you’ll have people asking you to make once or twice a month. You’ll need thick white-wheat noodles, like udon, and some of the Korean black-bean paste known as chunjang, available at Korean markets and online. If you can’t find pickled daikon to serve as a garnish, some raw onions dressed in vinegar will make a fine alternative.

Jajangmyeon

neutral oil, like canola

pork belly,

pork shoulder,

garlic cloves,

carrot,

waxy potato,

Spanish onion,

zucchini, 1/2 peeled and diced, 1/2 peeled and julienned

chunjang, Korean black-bean paste

brown sugar

salt

udon noodles

pickled yellow daikon radish, cut into half moons

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat, and add the oil to it. When it shimmers and is about to smoke, add the pork belly and shoulder, and allow them to brown, stirring occasionally, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Turn the heat to medium-high, and add the ginger and garlic, and sauté until softened, approximately 1 to 2 minutes, then add the carrot, potato, onion and the diced zucchini, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the black-bean paste to the pan, along with the sugar, a light sprinkle of salt and about 1 cup water. Stir to combine, then allow to cook until the sauce has thickened and the meat and vegetables have cooked through entirely, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large pot filled with water over high heat to bring to a boil. Add the noodles, and cook until they are soft, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Reserve a cup of the noodle water, and then drain the noodles, rinsing them with cold water to bring them to room temperature. Set aside in a large serving bowl.

Add a little of the reserved noodle water to the pork-and-black-bean sauce if it is too thick, then pour the sauce over the noodles. Garnish with the julienned zucchini and the pickled daikon.

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