🍜 Zhajiangmian
Zhajiangmian is a Beijing noodle dish of thick wheat noodles topped with ground pork fried in salty fermented yellow bean paste, finished with fresh julienned cucumber and scallion. The sauce is savory, rich and thick, and the cold crunchy vegetables cut through it. It is mixed at the table and eaten as a hearty one-bowl meal.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g fresh wheat noodles
- 300 g ground pork
- 100 g yellow bean paste
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 100 ml water
Method
- Heat the oil and fry the pork until it loses its pink colour and renders some fat.
- Add the garlic and half the scallions, then the bean paste and sugar; fry gently for 2 minutes.
- Add the water and simmer on low heat for 10–15 minutes until thick and glossy.
- Boil the noodles, drain and divide into bowls.
- Spoon the sauce over the noodles, top with cucumber and remaining scallions and mix before eating.
How to make it lighter
- Use lean ground pork and spoon off rendered fat before adding the paste.
- Double the cucumber and add other raw vegetables like radish or bean sprouts to bulk up the bowl.
- The bean paste is very salty; a little goes a long way, so keep the sauce portion moderate.
History
The name means 'fried sauce noodles', and the dish is strongly associated with Beijing and Shandong cooking. Versions spread across China and to Korea, where it became 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 →