Beijing Zhajiangmian (Northern Chinese Fermented Bean Paste Noodles)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 45 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 9
About this dish
Unlike the glossy, starch-thickened black bean noodles found in Korean Chinese restaurants, this Beijing version gets its body purely from reduction: pork and fermented bean paste cook down until a spatula leaves a brief trail through the sauce.
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Doenjang mixed into the sweet bean paste pushes the flavor toward salty and funky, with a spoonful of sugar to soften the edge. The thick sauce sits on chewy fresh wheat noodles alongside crisp cucumber and bean sprouts, all tossed together hard right before eating.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Loosen 4 tablespoons fermented soybean paste and 1 tablespoon yellow soybean paste with a little water until no dense lumps remain.
Julienne the cucumber, blanch the bean sprouts briefly, then cool the toppings so they stay crisp.
- 2
Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil to a pan and warm it over medium heat.
Stir in the chopped scallion and cook for 1-2 minutes, just until fragrant and slightly translucent at the edges, without browning it hard.
- 3
Add 300 g ground pork and stir-fry over high heat, breaking it apart as it cooks.
When the pink color disappears and some fat starts to render, lower the heat to medium so the paste will not scorch.
- 4
Pour in the loosened paste mixture and fold it through the pork.
Scrape the bottom often and fry for 2-3 minutes, until the raw fermented edge softens and the sauce looks darker and glossy.
- 5
Stir in 1 tablespoon sugar and simmer over low heat for 8-10 minutes.
Keep stirring so it does not catch; it is ready when a spatula leaves a brief trail on the pan before the sauce flows back.
- 6
Cook 500 g fresh wheat noodles until chewy, rinse in cold water, and drain very well so the sauce does not thin out.
Place them in bowls, add the zhajiang sauce, cucumber, and bean sprouts, then toss vigorously before eating.
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Zhajiangmian (Chinese Black Bean Paste Noodles with Ground Pork)
ground pork, fermented soybean paste
Korean Black Bean Noodles
ground pork, fermented soybean paste
Jayeom Seasoned Bean Sprouts
scallion, bean sprouts