Taiwanese Zha Jiang Mian / Soybean Paste Noodles 台式炸醬麵

 

Zha Jiang Mian (炸醬麵), aka soybean paste noodles, is actually a very common street food in Taiwan. You may notice Korean ‘’Jajangmyeon’’ sounds quite like Mandarin Chinese ‘’Zha Jiang Mian’’ as Jajangmyeon originated from Chinese dish but then was transformed to Korean style noodles. Same in Taiwan, Zha Jiang Mian is a Northern Chinese classic but we took on and developed our own version as well. (I believe Taiwanese Zha Jiang Mian tastes slightly different from Zha Jiang Mian in China.) Personally I feel Korean Jajangmyeon has a sweeter taste of caramelised black bean paste and usually seasoning with sesame oil. Taiwanese Zha Jiang Mian, on the other hand, is more salty flavour with the mixture of pork gravy and soybean curd. And Here is how I made my Taiwanese Zha Jiang Mian :

Ingredients:

-Pork belly, cut into small cubes.
(or you can use minced pork)
-Firm tofu, cut into small cubes.
-Taiwanese Dou Ban Jiang/soybean paste (台式豆瓣醬), 2 tbsp.
-2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
-Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp.
-Soy sauce, 2 tbsp.
-Sugar, 1 tsp.

How to cook:

-Soak tofu cubes in boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes then drain it well.
-Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, once pan is hot, place pork cubes in and stir fry until browned.
-Add chopped garlic.
-Add Taiwanese Dou Ban Jiang/soybean paste and stir fry over slow fire until aromatic.
-Add tofu cubes.
-Add oyster sauce. (here it’s supposed to add ‘’Tian Mian Jian’’ 甜麵醬- another type of Taiwanese sweet bean paste, I don’t have it so I used oyster sauce instead.)
-Add soy sauce, sugar, and water to taste. Let it simmer for 10 minutes over the lowest heat.
-Top above sauce on the cooked dry noodles and serve immediately.