🍜 Zhajiangmian (Beijing noodles with fried bean sauce)

Name: Zhajiangmian (Beijing noodles with fried bean sauce)
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: China · Beijing
Ingredients: 400 g fresh thick wheat noodles; 300 g minced pork, preferably with some fat; 100 g fermented soybean paste (huangjiang); 2 tbsp sweet bean sauce; 1 tbsp sugar; 2 scallions, chopped; 2 cm ginger and 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 large cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks

Origin: China · Beijing

860kcal

per serving · 400 g

215kcal

per 100 g

36 gProtein9 g / 100 g

32 gFat8 g / 100 g

104 gCarbs26 g / 100 g

Zhajiangmian is a bowl of thick, chewy wheat noodles topped with a dark, savoury sauce of minced pork slowly fried in fermented soybean paste. Crisp matchsticks of raw cucumber are piled on top and everything is tossed together at the table. The sauce is intensely salty and rich, so only a few spoonfuls go on each bowl, balanced by the cool crunch of the vegetables.

Diets

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: pork

Not veganbecause of: pork

Contains porkbecause of: pork

Contains glutenbecause of: wheat noodles

Not keto26 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Soy

What it is made of

wheat noodlesporkfermented bean pastecucumber

Recipe

4 servings40 min

Ingredients

400 g fresh thick wheat noodles
300 g minced pork, preferably with some fat
100 g fermented soybean paste (huangjiang)
2 tbsp sweet bean sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 scallions, chopped
2 cm ginger and 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks

Method

Mix the soybean paste and sweet bean sauce with 100 ml water until smooth.
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the pork over medium heat until it loses its colour and releases some fat.
Add the ginger, garlic and white parts of the scallions and fry for 1 minute.
Pour in the bean paste mixture and sugar, lower the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 10–15 minutes until thick and glossy.
Boil the noodles according to the package, then drain.
Divide the noodles into bowls, spoon 2–3 tbsp of sauce on top, add the cucumber and scallion greens and mix well before eating.

How to make it lighter

Use lean minced pork and skim off the fat that rises to the top of the sauce.
Stretch the bowl with extra vegetables — more cucumber, blanched bean sprouts or radish — and fewer noodles.
The sauce is concentrated: 2 tbsp per bowl is plenty, and fry it in 1 tbsp of oil instead of 2 (1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal).

History

The name means "fried sauce noodles", and the dish is a classic of northern Chinese home cooking, especially in Beijing and Shandong. Beijing versions are known for the generous plate of shredded vegetables served alongside. Chinese migrants later carried the dish to Korea, where it evolved into jajangmyeon.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →