This version of Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) is what my mom used to make for lunch on the weekends. May not be the most authentic but it’s tasty, easy to make and reminds me of home now that I’m living on my own. I always looked forward to eating it, and my mom was more than happy to cook this, as it is so simple to prepare! Just some basic stir fry, and everything comes together in less than 20 minutes. This Zha Jiang Mian noodle recipe works best especially if you have leftover braised/fried pork.
2 main ingredients for this dish are the noodles and sauce.
Sauce: Authentic Zha Jiang Mian is always made with bean paste, thus I am using Dou Ban Jiang (a spicy bean paste). However, if you’re really out of any bean paste and craving for this, the Dou Ban Jiang can be substituted with oyster sauce.
Noodles: It is important to use some sort of noodles which will help to soak up all the sauce. For this recipe, I used freshly made You Mian (莜面 yóu miàn), which is a type of thin wheat noodles.
Recipe
Servings: 1 pax
Time: <20 mins
Ingredients
- Cucumber (cut into thin strips)
- Carrot (cut into thin strips)
- 150g of Minced pork (can be substituted with other types of minced meat like chicken or beef, or minced mushrooms for vegan option )
- 1 tsp Dou Ban Jiang
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp dark soya sauce
- 1 tbsp chilli oil
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- Noodles of choice
- 1 x Hard boiled egg (optional)
- Spring onions (optional)
Steps:
- Cut the cucumbers and carrots into thin strips and set aside.
- To a pan on medium low heat, add some cooking oil. Add the minced pork to the pan, followed by Dou Ban Jiang, sesame oil and dark soya sauce. Mix the sauces with the minced pork and fry. (You can premix the sauces with the minced pork in another bowl before frying it in the pan)
- Spread the minced pork out on the pan, to allow for more contact area between the pork and the pan. This helps the pork get nicely charred and caramelized.
- Let the minced pork cook in the pan for about 5 mins without touching it. Once the bottom turns dark brown and caramelized, break up the minced pork and fry it for a few more minutes. Remove from the pan once fully cooked.
- In a separate pot, cook your noodles accordingly. (Here, I am using fresh You Mian noodles, so I boiled the noodles in boiling water for 3-5 mins)
- To a serving bowl, add chilli oil, soya sauce and cooked noodles. Top it off with the sliced cucumbers, carrots, minced pork, hard boiled egg and spring onions.
- Toss everything together in the sauce, and voila!
Video steps below
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