JaJangMyeon (자장면) is the most popular Korean style Chinese food in Korea. This is made of mainly black bean paste, meat, and different kinds of vegetables. In Korea, you can easily order JaJangMyeon (Black bean paste noodles) from the Chinese restaurants. Then they will deliver the food to your house only for 3 or 4 dollars without any tipping. Typically, Korean style Chinese restaurants serve JaJangMyeon with Yellow Pickled Radish (DanMuJi), radish kimchi (KkakDuGi), and raw onion with black bean paste, which you will use to make this recipe. Dip the onion into the black bean paste when you eat JaJangMyeon. Garnish with cucumber or peas. Cucumber tastes especially good with this JaJangMyeon.
Yield: 2 Servings
Short Korean Lesson: *^^*
- JaJangBap (자장밥) = Black bean paste with rice
- JaJangMyeon (자장면) = Black bean paste with noodles
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 1 Cup Onion
- 1 Cup Potato
- ½ Cup Zucchini
- 2 Handful Cabbage
- Thick Noodles for JaJangMyun
Meat Ingredients
- 1 Cup Beef or Pork
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Wine
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1 Pinch Black Pepper
Sauce Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp Black Bean Paste
- 1 Tbsp Oil
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 2 Cup Water
- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
Directions
Cut 1 cup worth of beef or pork into half-inch pieces. Add 1 Tbsp of cooking wine, 1 pinch of salt, and 1 pinch of black pepper to the meat. Mix it together, and then set it aside while you are preparing other ingredients.
Dice 1 cup worth of potato, onion, and a ½ cup worth of zucchini into half-inch pieces. Cut 2 handfuls of cabbage into ½-inch squares.
To make the sauce, start with 1 Tbsp of oil in a heated pan. Then add 4 Tbsp of black bean paste to the oil. Fry it until it becomes soft.
Add ½ tsp of sugar to the black bean paste. The sugar helps to remove the bitter taste from the black bean paste.
Fry the meat until it has completely cooked.
In another oiled and heated pan, fry the potato until it is half cooked. Then, add the onion and the cabbage to the potato. Fry until they are half cooked. Lastly, add the zucchini and fry until all of the vegetables are cooked.
After all of the vegetables are cooked, add the meat and the fried black bean paste. Mix everything together.
Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in 2 cups of water. Mix it together thoroughly.
Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pan.
Boil until the sauce becomes thicker.
Serve the black bean paste sauce over cooked rice or noodles.
aeri, you are one hot ticket for doing this website! I have just discovered it because a Chowhound linked it to my thread on jajangmyun about my attempt to find an excellent version here in boston. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/809540
I have the hardest time believing that the sauce is this simple, because it has a layered complexity of favor- for me.(maybe that’s the effect of roasted soybeans instead of the chinese fermented black beans that one normally thinks of when they hear ‘black beans’ in asian cooking.) You don’t use chicken stock instead of water? and no scallions or ginger? Does packaged black bean paste contain MSG or hydrolized yeast extract?
Two comments: *your knife technique is admirable! but i do hope you will change your potato chopping technique; you need to have a flat side down always, of any vegetable, before you beging slicing, so cut off a little slice of the rounded potato to make it flat, or halve it, and place it cut-side down, like you do your cabbage. and * do you usually do this in a wok? it seems that the char possible in a wok- would add a lot of good flavor to the dish.
Thanks again, arie; what you have created here is so very helpful!
best,
mindy
hi mindy,
I’m very happy to meet you. Thanks for your comment. I can see that you are good at cooking. About your question.. the black bean noodles I made is.. korean style chinese food.. so it’s different from original chinese food. When I checked my black bean paste ..it didn’t have MSG in it.. ^^ please give me more feedback about my cooking in the future.. thanks
Hi aeriiii
kekekek
i made this jjajangbab..it’s soooooo good ^^v
thanks for the recipe,hehe
how if i wanna make it spicy?
hi Ranie,
thanks
It is not a spicy food..but some people add hot pepper powder to it. I’ve never done that before.. hehe.. or you can eat this with spicy kimchi ..
i ate it with spaghetti pasta..and once i ate it,i put indonesian hot pepper sauce..the taste is amazing!!
maybe i will put hot pepper sauce every time i eat it,hehe~
Hi aeri~ ^^
i’d like to try this jajangmyun recipe..but i think i wanna make it spicier ..so,should i put red pepper powder or something into it?if it is yes,when should i put it in?
waiting your responce soon..thank u aeri ^_^
hello Dear Aeri
wow its great but I have some problem with this beef (pork)…because im muslum…
Can I make jajangmyun with other version of beef like Mutton or chiken????
I like korean food
please help me
thank you
hi danoosh,
sorry.. I don’t know much about your religion.. can you eat pork (pig meat) ? if you can..use pork.. it’s the original meat they use for this dish in Korea. ^^ if you can’t eat that either.. then use meat you can eat.