zha jiang mian
zha jiang mian aka beijing fried sauce noodles, or chinese bolognese
zha jiang mian aka chinese bolognese
My friend Ken best described this dish when he exclaimed ‘This is like the Chinese bolognese sauce’. He is completely right and insightful. Italian bolognese is ground meat with tomato sauce. The Chinese version is ground meat made with bean sauce. It’s amazing how different cultures are incredibly similar.
This is one of my favorite noodle dishes growing up. The sauce is savory. When combined with cold crunchy julienned cucumber, it is absolute heavenly and addictive. I have to watch out for over eating whenever I get a chance to make this dish.
ingredients
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp and 1 tbsp oil
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• 3 slices ginger, chopped if preferred
• 4 cloves garlic sliced or chopped if preferred
• 6 canned water chestnut, chopped (See tips below)
• 2 tbsp sweet bean sauce
• 3 tbsp ground bean sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 lb fresh or frozen Chinese noodles
• 1 cup carrots, julienned
• 1 cup cucumbers, julienned
• 1/2 cup scallions, julienned
steps
In a medium bowl, combine ground pork, salt, cornstarch, 1/2 tsp oil, ground pepper. Marinate for 15 minutes.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in sautée pan, add marinated pork mixture. Cook undisturbed for 1 minute to brown. Add ginger, garlic and water chestnut. Stir fry Everything together for 2-3 minutes.
Add sweet bean sauce, ground bean sauce, dark soy sauce and water. Mix, lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
Cook noodles according to package directions.
Serve noodles in bowls topped with 2-3 tbsp sauce, julienned carrots, cucumber and scallions
tips
I used water chestnut because I have a mushroom hater in my house. I had some water chestnut on hand and liked the crunch factor. Great substitutes would be diced dried shiitake mushroom, diced five spiced smoked tofu, or endamames. I even remember versions that include all of the alternatives.
