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5.0 from 102 votes

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面)

Chewy noodles served with an irresistible pork sauce and crunchy vegetable toppings, Zha Jiang Mian is a signature Beijing dish that’s perfect for weekday dinners.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
35 mins
Servings: 4
Calories: 618 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

For the pork:
  • 10 oz pork belly or ground pork (see note 1)
  • 2 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
  • 3 talk scallions chopped and divided
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1 piece star anise
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
  • 4 tablespoon yellow bean paste see note 2 & 3
  • 2 tablespoon sweet bean sauce see note 4
  • ⅔ cup water
For the vegetables
  • 1 large cucumber
  • 8 red radish
  • ½ cup edamame aka fresh soybeans
  • 2 cup bean sprouts
For the noodles
  • 4 portion noodles fresh or dried (see note 5)

Instructions

Cook the pork
    Cup of Yum
  1. Cut pork belly into small cubes (about ⅓ inch/1 cm). Keep its skin on if any. 
  2. Heat oil in a wok (or a skillet) over medium heat. Add the green part of the scallions, ginger, and star anise. Leave to sizzle until fragrant.
  3. Stir in the pork. Fry until it turns pale. Add Shaoxing rice wine, yellow bean paste, and sweet flour sauce. Mix well then add water.
  4. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (or 15 minutes if using ground meat).
  5. Turn the heat up to high and leave to cook uncovered until the sauce thickens further.  Stir in the remaining scallions and set aside.
Prepare the vegetables
  1. While waiting for the pork to cook, prepare the vegetable toppings. Cut the cucumber into matchsticks, and thinly slice the red radish.
  2. Blanch edamame in boiling water for 1 minute if chilled, or 2 minutes if frozen. Add beansprouts and continue blanching for about 20 seconds. Fish out the edamame and sprouts.
Boil the noodles
  1. Add noodles to the same pot of boiling water (top up with more if necessary), and boil until fully cooked. Drain then rinse under cold water for a few seconds to remove surface starch (skip rinsing if your tap water isn’t portable).
Assemble the dish
  1. Place the noodles in four serving bowls. Add the pork sauce and all the vegetable toppings. Stir well before tucking in.

Notes

  • You may replace pork with beef, lamb, or chicken. To make the dish vegan, use dried tofu (豆腐干) or shiitake mushroom as substitutes.
  • This recipe uses regular yellow bean paste (黄豆酱). You may also use the dry version, known as 干黄酱,  which has a rather solid texture. In this case, dilute it with water before adding it to the pork.
  • To substitute yellow bean paste, use Sichuan chili bean paste (aka doubanjiang) or Korean black bean sauce (aka Chunjang).
  • Hoisin sauce can be used to replace sweet flour sauce.
  • The traditional recipe calls for thick noodles. However, thinner noodles work well too. For dried noodles,  use about 3oz (85g) for one portion.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1serving Calories 618kcal (31%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 618

% Daily Value*

Serving 1serving
Calories 618kcal 31%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.