Jajangmyeon
INGREDIENTS FOR JAJANGMYEON, 6 SERVINGS
MAIN
- 1kg (35 ounces), fresh jajangmyeon noodles (Or you can use fresh udon or ramen noodles)
- 1 large onion (150g / 5.3 ounces)
- 1 medium zucchini (110g / 3.9 ounces)
- 2 large potatoes (470g / 1 pound)
- 7 large button mushrooms (240g / 0.5 pounds)
- 1/4 small cabbage (160g / 5.6 ounces)
- 600g / 1.3 pounds diced pork
PORK MARINADE SAUCE
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
- 5 sprinkles ground salt
- 5 sprinkles ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder
KOREAN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
- 6 Tbsp Korean black bean paste (Chunjang, 춘장)
- 90g / 3.2 ounces lard (or 6 Tbsp cooking oil – e.g. rice bran oil)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp rice wine (or mirin)
- 1 cup chicken stock (as natural as possible)
- 1 cup water
- Slurry (potato starch 5 Tbsp + water 4 Tbsp)
TOPPINGS
- 1 large cucumber (150g / 5.3 ounces)
- Peas or sweet corn (from a tin, alternative)
- Hard boiled egg (alternative)
*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml
**If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my Essential Korean Cooking Ingredients list!
PREPARATIONS
1. Rinse the pork in cold water and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Add the pork marinade sauce onto the pork. Mix them well and leave it for 15 mins.
2. Cut the onion, zucchini, and potato into small cubes.
3. Thin slice the mushrooms.
4. Cut the cabbage into small to medium size pieces.
5. Julienne cut the cucumber.
HOW TO MAKE JAJANGMYEON
1. Pre heat the wok until the bottom is heated well. Add the lard (or cooking oil) and melt it in the wok. Add the black bean paste and stir it constantly on medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. (Try not to burn it.) Add the brown sugar and stir it for an additional 2 to 3 mins.
2. Scoop out the black bean paste (without the oil) and set it aside. Leave the oil in the wok to use in the next step.
3. Add the pork into the wok and stir until the pork is half cooked.
4. Add the onion, zucchini, and potato and stir until all are 1/3 cooked (for 3 to 5 mins).
5. Add the mushrooms and cabbages and stir for 2-3 mins.
6. Add the black bean paste (from step 2) into the wok and mix it in with vegetables. Stir for 1 to 2 mins.
7. Add the chicken stock, water and rice wine then simmer it for 5 to 7 mins on medium heat. (Cover the wok with a lid if possible. This will make the cooking process faster.)
8. Add the slurry into the wok then stir it. (This will thicken the black sauce. It is the final stage of making the black bean sauce.)
9. (While working on step 7) Boil some water in a pot and add the noodles when it starts to boil. Boil them until the noodles are cooked (for 3 to 5 mins).
10. Rinse the noodles in cold water and drain. Put them into a serving bowl/plate.
11. Add the black bean sauce (from the step 8) on top of the noodles. You can serve it as it is or decorate it with some cucumber slices, green peas or sweet corn or hardboiled egg.
12.Mix the sauce and the noodles well with chopsticks. Dig in. (It is ideal to have them with some (yellow) pickled radish. Apparently, it helps digestion. Also, eat it up quickly before the noodles get swollen.)