Zhajiangmian

Template:Chinesename Zhajiang mian (lit. "fried sauce noodle") is a northern Chinese dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork stir-fried with either sweet noodle sauce (甜麵醬; pinyin: tiánmiànjiàng) or hoisin sauce (海鮮醬; pinyin: hǎixiānjiàng). Some Chinese restaurants may refer to this dish as "brown meat sauce noodles," "noodles with fried bean and meat sauce," or the pinyin transliteration zhájiàngmiàn (sometimes zhàjiàngmiàn with 2nd tone in southern China and Taiwan). It is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Chinese spaghetti."

Recipe outline

The following is a rough sketch for making fried sauce noodles. Consult recipe books for more detailed directions.

• Dice green onions (scallions) and garlic.
• Stir-fry the ground pork until it is slightly brown. Remove the meat from the wok.
• Stir-fry the green onions and garlic until they are slightly brown. (One could also add shredded tofu or soybeans to this step).
• Place the meat back into the wok/frying pan.
• Add the sweet noodle or hoisin sauce to the mixture with some water and simmer.
• Serve this meat sauce over noodles. If desired, add condiments like shredded carrots, shredded cucumbers, bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, fresh soybeans/edamame and hot sauce.

Korean variation

Jajangmyeon is the Korean version of this dish. In addition, the brown colour of the sauce is from the use of black bean paste, rather than hoisin sauce. Korean jajangmyeon may also feature a variety of minced seafood rather than pork.

See also

• Jajangmyeon
• Sweet noodle sauce
• Plate of the day food blog - Zhong San China Muslim Variety NW China