Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面)
Chewy noodles served with an irresistible pork sauce and crunchy vegetable toppings, Zha Jiang Mian is a signature Beijing dish that’s perfect for weekday dinners.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 10 oz pork belly (or ground pork (see note 1))
- 2 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
- 3 stalk scallions (chopped and divided)
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 piece star anise
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 4 tablespoon yellow bean paste (see note 2 & 3)
- 2 tablespoon sweet bean sauce (see note 4)
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 large cucumber
- 8 red radish
- ½ cup edamame (aka fresh soybeans)
- 2 cup bean sprouts
- 4 portion noodles (fresh or dried (see note 5))
Instructions
- 1
Cook the pork
- 2
Cut pork belly into small cubes (about 1/3 inch/1 cm). Keep its skin on if any.
- 3
Heat oil in a wok (or a skillet) over medium heat. Add the green part of the scallions, ginger, and star anise. Leave to sizzle until fragrant.
- 4
Stir in the pork. Fry until it turns pale. Add Shaoxing rice wine, yellow bean paste, and sweet flour sauce. Mix well then add water.
- 5
Cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (or 15 minutes if using ground meat).
- 6
Turn the heat up to high and leave to cook uncovered until the sauce thickens further. Stir in the remaining scallions and set aside.
- 7
Prepare the vegetables
- 8
While waiting for the pork to cook, prepare the vegetable toppings. Cut the cucumber into matchsticks, and thinly slice the red radish.
- 9
Blanch edamame in boiling water for 1 minute if chilled, or 2 minutes if frozen. Add beansprouts and continue blanching for about 20 seconds. Fish out the edamame and sprouts.
- 10
Boil the noodles
- 11
Add noodles to the same pot of boiling water (top up with more if necessary), and boil until fully cooked. Drain then rinse under cold water for a few seconds to remove surface starch (skip rinsing if your tap water isn’t portable).
- 12
Assemble the dish
- 13
Place the noodles in four serving bowls. Add the pork sauce and all the vegetable toppings. Stir well before tucking in.