Zha Jiang Mian (bean sauce noodles)
Another childhood favorite of mine. Zhajiangmian, similar to but different from Korean jajangmyeon, is made with fermented soybean paste. Salty, thick, with just a touch of sweetness, it goes great over your favorite noodles or zoodles. My mom’s variation is a mish-mash between bejing-style zhajianmiang and a shanghainese dish called babaolajiang (eight-treasure spicy sauce), so it’s loaded up with other flavorful + textured things like mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and doufugan. You can easily swap out for other ground meats (or leave out completely) and play with the ingredients — one of my go-to swaps is using zucchini instead of bamboo shoots as it’s more accessible!
When shopping for sweet bean sauce (tianmiangjiang 甜面酱), you’ll notice that certain variations are made with soybeans, while others are made with only flour. You’ll want to look for the one that has soybeans!
Ingredients (enough sauce for ~6 servings of noodles):
- 1 king oyster mushroom, minced
- 1/4 lb ground pork
- 1/2 large bamboo shoot, minced
- 1 jumbo pressed tofu block (doufugan) or 2 small, minced – make sure you get one without additional spices in the ingredients
- 1 6 oz. can sweet bean sauce (or 3/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp bean sauce
Directions:
- Heat up oil in the pan and cook the ground pork and remove
- Add more oil to the pan and add in bamboo shoots and cook for a minute. Add in mushrooms and cook until it starts to soften ~1-2 minutes. Finally add in the bean curd and sauté until mushrooms look well-cooked, another minute.
- Heat up 1 tsp of oil over medium-low heat, add the sweet bean sauce and bean sauce, stir to combine
- Once the sauce starts to bubble, mix in the sautéed ingredients.
- Add 1/2 cup water, close the lid, and let sauce simmer for 5 mins.
- Serve with your favorite noodles. Add veggies such as cucumbers and spinach if you’d like.
This sauce freezes super well! Store it in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze it for future use.
