Zha Jiang Mian

What better time than the Chinese New Year to challenge yourself to make a delicious new Chinese recipe? Since Nabol and I have been fascinated lately with Beijing’s history, culture and food, we decided to try their signature noodle dish: Zha Jiang Mian. It was a hit!

It was so good in fact, that we made it twice this weekend! What makes this Northern China recipe so special is its thick and savory black sauce with fried pork. After all, Zha Jiang Mian means exactly that: fried sauce noodles. Every cook will have their own take on this dish — using different spices, ground pork vs. pork pieces or different sauce ratio.

After looking at different recipes, we ended up with this version. Please, note that we used gluten-free Chinese noodles instead of the classic fresh flour-based Chinese noodles. Feel free to use the classic ones. We hope you enjoy it.

Zha Jiang Mian (Serves two)

• Brown Rice Chinese thin noodles or Fresh flour noodles 
• ½ Cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• ½ Small carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 Long scallion, sliced

Sauce:

• 1 Pound of ground pork
• 1 ½ Inch of ginger, minced
• 4 Cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp of yellow bean paste
• 1 Tbsp of hoisin sauce
• ¼ Cup of white wine
• ¼ Cup of water
• 1 ½ Tsp of dark soy sauce
• ½ Tsp of sugar
• Olive oil or cooking oil

1. First, once you have cut your carrots, blanch them for a few seconds and set aside with your cucumbers and scallions.

2. Then, with a drop of oil sauté your ground pork until almost fully cooked. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Then, make a space in the middle and add your sauces. Cook for about a minute before mixing with the meat.

4. Add your wine, sugar, soy sauce and cook for another minute. Then add the water. Cook until the sauce thickens.

5. Serve over noodles with the veggies.