I made Zhajian Mian 炸酱面 (or Jajang Myeon 자장면) got dinner ♥. The name literally means Fried Sauce Noodles.
- 1/2 cucumber (julienne)
- 1 carrot (peeled and shredded)
- 2-3 scallions (chopped finely. the green parts will be used for garnish and the white parts will be used with the onions)
- 1 onion (diced)
- ground beef/pork (just eyeball how much you want. for vegetarians, you can use firm or fried tofu!)
- 8 - 10 tablespoons of sweet bean paste (甜面酱)
- 4 - 6 tablespoons of spicy bean paste (豆瓣酱)
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable or sesame oil (optional)
- noodles (any kind will do: rice noodle, vermicelli, ho fan…etc. you can even use rice or spaghetti if you don’t have any one hand!)
Step 1: chop, dice, peel and shred your vegetables
Step 2: in a deep frying pan (or a large one because the sauce might spill) heat up the sesame oil and sautee the onions and the white parts of the scallion.
Step 3: When the onions are brown and fragrant, add in the ground beef and stir fry until brown.
Step 4: Add in the sweet bean paste and spicy bean paste. Stir and simmer in medium-high heat.
Step 5: Boil some water, when it rapidly boiling add your noodles and follow its cooking instructions. I used about 1 serving of rice noodles so it took about 5 minutes.
Step 6: drain (you can rinse with cold water, but if you’re eating it fresh don’t bother hahaha!)
Step 7: Garnish with your shredded carrots, julienned cucumbers, “jiang” or sauce and green onions (I scrambled some eggs and cut them into fine strips to add extra colour).
Depending on how much jiang you like, it ranged from 2 - 4 servings. I don’t like having too much because its kinda salty ahaha. Also, some people cook the cucumbers in the sauce, too. That might give it a lighter flavour. Enjoy ♥