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Jjajangmyeon 짜장면 - Korean Black Bean Noodles Recipe

Thursday, January 06, 2011 | Labels: , , |

Jjajangmyeon has reached cult status in Korea and is hailed as one of the country's national dishes, it is probably the most popular delivery noodle dish and is definitely one of the most delicious Korean noodle dishes in my opinion. The early ancestor of jjajangmyeon is the Chinese classic black bean noodles or known as zhaziangmian 炸酱面- both names literally translate to 'fried sauce noodles'.  Most of the Chinese dishes found in Korea hail from northern China due to geographical proximity and were brought in by Chinese immigrants to Korea via the Incheon port about 100 years ago. Jjajangmyeon however bears little resemblance to the original in both method of cooking and taste. Jjajangmyeon includes a lot of different vegetables like zucchini, carrots, potato and radish in the sauce while a typical Chinese cook would probably never dream of adding such into zhaziangmian. Different as these dishes are, I find both versions delicious and as is traditional, I love eating my jjajangmyeon with danmuji (yellow pickled radish) which is also an essential ingredient when making kimbap

Jjajangmyeon

In a typical Korean Chinese restaurant, jjajangmyeon is usually made with freshly handmade noodles (sutamyeon) while the mainstay of the sauce is chunjang (pictured below), a paste made from roasted soybeans and caramel.  I did not have the luxury of fresh handmade noodles, hence I used a dried variety of wheat noodles used for jjajangmyeon (pictured below) - if you can't find these noodles either, you can substitute with other wheat noodles or even linguini.  If you are Asian, it is probably hard to be ignorant of hallyu - the Korean wave referring to the widespread 'exportation' of Korean culture especially via the country's entertainment industry to most parts of Asia.  Admittedly, I used to be addicted to such dramas but nowadays if I do catch one, my eyes will be more glued to the food since as a food blogger, I am constantly on the look-out for new cooking ideas - such is the life of a food blogger! Jjajangmyeon features heavily on a lot of Korean dramas' menus, one is almost always bound to see the characters slurping up these yummy noodles.  Looks like Korean dramas are now doing what Chinese immigrants used to do i.e. introducing its' cuisine to foreigners!

Jjajangmyeon

I am sending this as an entry to Presto Pasta Nights for 2011's first round-up hosted by the creator herself, Ruth of Once Upon A Feast.  Check out the links for more details on how to participate. 

Serves 4 generously.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of fatty pork, diced
Wheat noodles (1 packet will serve 4)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 carrot, cubed
1 onion, cubed
1 radish (daikon), cubed
8 tbsps of chunjang (black bean paste)
1-2 tbsps sugar
2-3 cups of water
8 slices of danmuji (yellow pickled radish)
Half a cucumber, sliced into thin slivers

Chunjang, sold in convenient little packets and the wheat noodles used today.
Jjajangmyeon

Jjajangmyeon

Method:

Firstly, heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a pan.  Saute the diced pork together with the garlic until golden brown.  Remove garlic.  Turn off heat and leave the pork in the pan.  You will use this pan later to saute the vegetables as well.

In a separate pan, heat about 2 tbsps of oil.  Once hot, turn heat to medium-low and add the chunjang gently to minimize splattering.  Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes.  Turn off heat.

Now for the vegetables, start by heating up the pan with the pork again.  There will be oil from the pork hence no need to add more oil for cooking the vegetables.  Add the radish and carrots first and stir-fry for about 1-2 minutes.  Add the onions and stir fry for another 2 minutes until soft.  Add the water and cover, boiling on medium heat for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove cover.  Add in the fried sauce earlier and mix well.  Bring to a boil.  Dilute about 3 tbsps of corn flour in 2 tbsps of water in a separate bowl and pour into the sauce to thicken.  Add sugar.  Turn off heat.

Boil the noodles in a pot according to package instructions or cook until al-dente.  These wheat noodles get soft pretty quick, so keep a close watch. 

Heat up the sauce again.  Remember to do a taste test and add more sugar if desired.  The chunjang is already salty so there is no need to add salt or soy sauce. 

To serve, place noodles in serving bowls and ladle a good dollop of the sauce on top.  The person eating should be the one mixing up the noodles.  As the noodles may get mushy quite quickly, it is important to serve this dish hot.  Garnish with some sliced cucumbers and serve together with the danmuji.

Jjajangmyeon

All mixed up!
Jjajangmyeon

22 comments:

Christine@Christine's Recipes said...

The cooking method and ingredients used are very similar to Chinese 炸醬麵. The black bean paste makes a difference in taste, isn't it?
Love this simple and delicious dish.

Jen (Tastes of Home) said...

Christine, yup the black bean paste makes a difference and also there is an addition of a lot of vegetables unlike the Chinese version :) I love both hehe

Ruth Daniels said...

Great post. Not only for the gorgeous photos and the delicious recipe, but the history lesson as well. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

beyondkimchee said...

I crave for Jjajangmeon. It was my childhood favorite and my kid's favorite to order when we go to Korean-Chinese restaurants. I have tried the real Chinese version in both Hong Kong and Taiwan but they tasted a little different. I prefer the Korean version. Thanks for sharing.

Ellie (Almost Bourdain) said...

I am learning so much about Korean food from you. Looking forward to more, Jen.

TasteHongKong said...

Now I know this is also good to serve with potato and radish apart from cucumber, thank for sharing!

Jen (Tastes of Home) said...

Ruth - thanks so much for your kind words!

beyondkimchee - I love both versions hehe I guess, probably me being Chinese, when I went to Taipei, I didn't get a chance for taiwanese zhaziangmian though!

Ellie - I'm so glad and flattered you find my dishes interesting :D (I'm definitely no expert though, just like to cook and eat Korean food hehe)

tastehongkong - yes, I love them with radish! thanks :D

Food For Tots said...

Oh! Now I know a little more about Korean food. Hehehe! Thanks for sharing. It looks good and appealing after tossing with the black bean sauce.

tigerfish said...

You almost completed the Korean essential dishes! :D

Carolyn Jung said...

Any recipe that starts out with 1/2 pound of fatty pork is a recipe for me. LOL
Plus, I can't resist any kind of noodle. I just wish I could dig in right now.

Jess said...

Mmm! Looks delicious! We always he Korean, Chinese, and Japanese out. Mainly because I'm afraid to attemp it!
Who knows? Maybe I'll try it next time!
Jess : )

Jen (Tastes of Home) said...

LK - thanks! glad you like this

TF - I think I still have a long way to go!

Carolyn - haha the fatty pork!

Jess - thanks! do hope you will give this a try :D

kourmet said...

what a nice cooking~!

짜장면 is my favorite dish!

jen, I'm running a korean food blog
I want to lay my pictures like your 'favourites'

How can I get this widget?

Jen (Tastes of Home) said...

hi kourmet! thanks for your kind words.

However, the favourites column is not a widget, I manually did the links and photos. But if you are using blogger, I think they now have a 'most popular' posts widget you can install. Hope that helps!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I love this dish! Used to eat the Chinese variation from the restaurant where I waitressed in college.

angie said...

this recipe looks so good, i had to blog it here: http://wp.me/pUMO0-1BB

Jen (Tastes of Home) said...

Xiaolu, glad this brings back memories for you!

Angie - thanks! but your link is not working :)

Ash said...

Hey ur blog is awesome...n recipes mouthwatering, I did try making few of them... in btw if anyone interested in Indian recipe u can join my blog http://ashisree.blogspot.com/

Lindsay said...

What substitutes can I use for the wheat noodles?  I can't find them.  Thanks

Smoky Wok (Tastes of Home) said...

Where did you look Lindsay? You can use Chinese wheat noodles instead of Korean as well - if you really can't find them, using angel hair pasta is fine :)

TDenham1106 said...

I've always wanted a recipe for homemade jjajangmyeon. I usually just buy the packaged stuff.

Smoky Wok (Tastes of Home) said...

This is quite easy..hope you like!

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