Today I’ll be sharing a dish that I’ve enjoyed since I was very young. I first experienced this black saucy noodle dish when I was 9 years old in Taiwan. In Taiwan, black bean noodles are called Zha Jang Mian which is nearly identical in pronunciation to its Korean counterpart. The noodles I will be sharing today is a deviation from the original Northern Chinese Dish where ground pork is fried with a fermented bean paste creating the name of “炸醬” literally, fried sauce.
The Korean style black bean noodles have been rising in popularity, not only in Asia but all over the world. The black bean paste used in Korean noodles contain caramel and onions in fermentation process creating a thicker and sweeter sauce. In addition, the Korean dish includes diced vegetables whereas the chinese version generally includes ground pork and crumbled tofu.
Yesterday, two of my friends came over to my apartment and we decided to make Jjajangmyun for dinner. When we prepared the noodles, my friend Eunice used what her mom had taught her to do most of the preparation. When I was writing the recipe, I based it off of Maangchi’s website which ended up being pretty similar. These black bean noodles are definitely different from your everyday marinara and alfredo so give it a try and let me know what you think!
boomie's kitchen 