Beijing Zhajiang Noodles (炸酱面)- stovetop and microwave version

I spent a part of my childhood in Beijing and my mom is from Beijing. One of the dishes my mom made was fried bean sauce noodles with this fried bean sauce. If you had Jajangmyeon from a Korean Chinese restaurant, it has origins to Chinese immigrants who brought this recipe over from China. It’s also called Zhajiang mian or Zhajiang noodles. It’s particularly famous in Beijing (where my mom and I were born).

However over the years the recipe had changed and now they are completely different. The Chinese version has a meat sauce and lots of vegetable toppings that is mixed in. I usually just have it with carrots and cucumbers. This is a great summer’s dish because it requires very little cooking (a plus in summer time) like my cold noodles.

Beijing Zhajiang noodles is a dish my mom likes to make when we don’t know what to eat and needs something quick. She would get soybean sauce which is fermented and another sweet sauce, tian mian sauce. This sweet sauce is similar to hoisin sauce and you can see it being served with peking duck as well. This sauce is not actually made from any beans but barley, it has a sweet and savoury taste to it. The fermented soybean paste is pretty sauce but has a lot of flavour in it. That’s why you don’t need a lot of ingredients to make this sauce and it’s a great midweek dish.

This is one of my favourite dish to make when I’m lazy but want a hearty meal that is ready under 15 minutes. The sauce can store up to 2 weeks. I will also show you 10 minute microwave lazy version when you don’t have the time to cook the sauce and still wants it during the week.

Ingredients:

• Wheat noodles

Zha Jian Sauce

• 400g soybean paste
• 2lb ground pork
• 140g of Tian Mian sauce (sweet bean sauce)

Aromatics:

• 2 bay leaves
• 2 star anise
• 1 spring onion
• 1 ginger slice
• 1 small piece of cinnamon stick
• 5 dry chili

Vegetables:

• 1 English cucumber or 2-3 mini cucumbers
• 1 small carrot (optional)
• Bean sprouts (optional)

How to make it

1. In a wok, heat oil on medium low.
2. Add in the aromatics and fry on medium low heat until fragrant
3. Remove the aromatics and discard
4. Add in the ground pork and break up the bigger pieces
5. Fry until there are no pink left on the ground pork and the oil runs clear
6. Add in the soybean paste and the tian mian sauce (sweet bean sauce)
7. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sauce reduces down.
8. Cut your vegetables into matchsticks. If using carrots and bean sprouts, blanch them in hot water for 30s.
9. Bring a pot of water to boil and boil your noodles to your desired doneness.
10. Assemble your noodles with the carrots and cucumbers and add a ladle of the sauce.

Little changes

The only thing I’ve changed is the aromatics portion which is fried before and discarded. It add a subtle flavour but if you are missing these ingredients, it’s not a huge deal. You can find most of these ingredients at most grocery stores.

Now if you search up this recipe there will be a lot of variations and you may get the Korean Jajangmyeon which uses Korean black bean paste and has a lot of more vegetable. I usually prefer this sauce simply because it’s easier to prepare (only 3 ingredients) and I only need to cut vegetables for the toppings. Sometimes I’m just lazy hehe.

Microwave version version:

This is an easier version when you want to have Zhajiang Noodles but don’t have the time to make from scratch. This version makes about 2 servings but you can always double it for your family.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup ground pork
• 4 tbsp of oil
• 3 tbsp soy bean sauce
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar

• Wheat noodles
• 2-3 mini cucumbers
• 1 small carrot (optional)

How to make microwave zhajiang noodle sauce

1. Mix the ground pork with oil, soy bean sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Make sure to mix it thoroughly and break up the small pieces so it cooks more easily.
2. Heat in the microwave COVERED for 3 minutes first
3. Once it’s done, mix again, do another 1-2 minutes, depending on the power of microwave.
4. Let it cool, meanwhile, cut up veggies, and boil your noodles
   • I parboil my carrots for about 30s.
5. Assemble your noodles with veggies and the sauce. Enjoy!

Pro-tip:

• Stir fry the pork on medium to medium low so it doesn’t clump up.
• Depending on the type of ground pork you are using, use less or more oils. Lean ground pork will have less oil and regular ground pork will have more oil.
• Parboil the carrots for about 30s to soften them up slightly.
• Don’t add salt to this recipe. The soybean sauce already has a lot of salt in it
• When serving, scoop a small amount of the sauce with some noodle water because a small amount goes a long way.
• When making the microwave version, do 3 minutes first then try adding 1 minute at a time to make sure you don’t over cook the meat and sauce. My microwave power is 1100W but if yours is less, do it for a bit longer.
• The sauce will become very dry and the ground meat will become tough once overcooked.

Beijing Zhajiang Noodles

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Prep Time:5 minutes mins

Cook Time:25 minutes mins

Total Time:30 minutes mins

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

• 2 packs of wheat noodles depending on how much everyone eats

Zhajiang sauce

• 1 Pack of Soybean/yellow bean sauce 400g
• 2 lb Ground pork
• ½ cup Tian Mian sauce 140g
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Aromatics

• 2 Bay leaves
• 2 Star anise
• 1 Spring onion
• 1 Slice of ginger 1cm thick
• 1 Small piece of cinnamon stick
• 5 Dried chilis

Microwave Version Zhajiang sauce

• 1 1/2 cup ground pork
• 4 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp soy bean sauce
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Toppings

• 1 English cucumber
• 1 Carrot optional
• 1/2 lb Bean sprouts optional

Instructions

Stove top version

• In a wok, add 2 tbsp of oil, heat it on medium-low
• Put in the aromatics and stir fry until fragrant
• Take out the aromatics and discard
• Add in the ground pork and stir fry until no pink can be seen, about 5 minutes. remember to keep the heat low or else the ground meat will clump up.
• Add in soybean sSauce and tian mian sauce into the wok and turn the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. trove
• Once the ground pork is all cooked, it is ready. You can serve it right away or store it in an airtight container for later use
• Meanwhile cut the carrots and cucumber into thin slices.
• Bring a pot of water to boil and parboil carrots for 1 minute.
• Boil the noodles to desired doneness, put the noodles into individual bowls.
• Place some carrots, cucumber and the sauce onto the noodles. Add a bit of the water you cook the noodles in to help mix the sauce. Enjoy

Microwave version

• Mix the ground pork with oil, soy bean sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Make sure to mix it thoroughly and break up the small pieces so it cooks more easily.
• Heat in the microwave COVERED for 3 minutes first
• Once it’s done, mix again, do another 1-2 minutes, depending on how powerful your microwave is.
• Let it cool, meanwhile, cut up veggies, and boil your noodles
• Assemble your noodles with veggies and the sauce. Enjoy!