Zha Jiang Mian : Handmade Noodles with Meat Sauce

This dish is popular in Northern China, where wheat is a staple. The noodles are hand-pulled and the sauce is savory from the stir fried mix of minced pork, fermented bean sauce, and aromatics. It's usually eaten with slices of raw vegetables like carrot and cucumber.

Method

Create a basic noodle dough of flour and water. Roll it flat and cut it into strips. Lovingly, but firmly, stretch these strands to the desired thinness. Drop into boiling water and cook until done in a few minutes. Drain the noodles and run them through cold water to stop them from cooking. Set aside.

Add minced scallions, garlic, ginger, and fermented bean sauce to a pan of hot oil and stir fry until fragrant. Then, add ground pork and stir fry some more. Then add soy sauce and water and let it reduce.

While it cooks, slice your carrot and cucumber into thin slices. You can use other ingredients like enoki mushrooms and slices of wood ear mushroom.

When all is done, assemble your plate of noodles and sauce with the fixings to your preference.

Notes

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) is also called noodles with Peking (or Beijing) sauce. However, this dish is common in other parts of northern China and even Korea. Every region has its own characteristics. For example, different regions use different fermented bean sauces such as yellow soybean paste, sweet bean sauce (we use this one), broad bean paste, and hoisin sauce.