If you've looked around on this blog, you've seen that I have talked about Korean Chinese food. You can't talk about this type of cuisine without giving nod to jajangmyeon/짜장면 . Jajang/짜장is the sauce and myeon/면 is the word for noodle. I can honestly say I've already eaten thousands and thousands of bowls over my life so far, and will probably consume a few thousand more before my time is over. Millions of Korean kids have grown up eating this sauce over noodles.
As an adult, I love dragging my non-Asian friends to eat these mysterious black noodles. I like to scare those inexperienced in this dish by warning them that we are going to eat "Black Spaghetti", almost alluding that they are about to consume something akin to the plague. As a matter of fact, the experience of eating this dish is quite the opposite of punishment. Savory and slightly sweet and immensely satisfying this dish is best enjoyed while you slurp the noodles and get the sauce all over your face.
I did a little digging around and it turns out this Korean Chinese dish has been around for over a hundred years! Originally a Chinese dish that originated in China's Shandong region, this dish was modified to fit Korean tastes back in the Joseon Era when Joseon opened it's Incheon port! Chinese immigrants set up restaurants in the port town and modified many Chinese dishes to use local produce, ingredients and to fit Korean tastebuds. Then during the Korean War, the Korean version of black bean sauce was created. It had caramel added in to make it sweeter and this was the moment that this dish began it's life as it's own separate, distinct dish from the Chinese version. The current version of Jajangmyun was born and the rest is history.
This dish is readily available in Korea and can even be delivered right to you in special boxes designed to house the bowls of noodles and sauce! Super cheap and filling, it's definitely a fan favorite. It's also easily found around LA's Ktown in restaurants and even in the hot food section of Korean markets. Korean markets stock this sauce in easy reheat-able pouches, but if you're not nearby any Korean Chinese restaurants, I'm going to show you how to make this sauce. It's super easy and quick to make and immensely satisfying to eat. The beauty of this sauce is that you can eat it over noodles and even rice.
Here it is over rice:
(photo credit: maangchi.com)
Grab these items:
pork belly or beef for stewing
olive oil
garlic (optional)
chili pepper flakes (optional)
Korean squash or zucchini
medium onion
medium potato
black bean paste (the Korean kind NOT the Chinese kind)
beef or chicken stock (or water)
corn starch
sugar
cooked rice or noodles (depending on what you'd like to serve the sauce over)
In a heavy sauce pan, like a dutch oven, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat.
Add about 1/2 a pound of pork belly that's been cut into bite sized pieces. You can keep this vegetarian and no meat.....but I'm not opposed to eating meat so in it goes.
Peel and cut your medium potato into bite-sized cubes. Remember, keep the cuts uniform for even cooking. The larger you cut them, the longer the cooking time.
Throw in your potatoes and onions into the pot with your pork and saute.
I really LOVE Korean squash. It's got a nice, meaty texture and is perfect for soaking up flavors. If you don't have access to it, you can use zucchini. .
Chop up into nice bite sized cubes and throw into your pot and saute
At this point, I like to add about 2 tablespoons of fresh, crushed garlic and a handful of red pepper flakes....but this isn't typical for this sauce. This is optional.
Clear a open space in the bottom of your pot and add about a tablespoon of olive oil like this:
Now grab your Korean black bean sauce. This is NOT the Chinese version (that's a lot saltier) and it's not Korean soy paste like the one we use in chigae.
Add a heaping spoonful (about 2 tablespoons). Plop it right in the middle.
Give it a quick saute in the oil until it starts to stick a little.
Then have go and go wild and saute everything in the sauce.
Other recipes tell you to dump in some water at this point....But I think using water leaves your sauce kinda of flat. So I use whatever stock I have on hand. In this case, I had a little beef stock so I used that, but chicken works great too. I used about 3 cups. Sometimes, I save the water that I boil pasta or potatoes in and use that too. Hey, we're in drought and every little bit counts.
A good measure is to make sure all your veggies and meat are covered in broth. If you add too much, then your sauce will be watery and the point of this sauce is that it's like a nice gravy.
Let your sauce simmer for about 15 minutes on medium low until your potatoes are soft enough to bite into.
While your sauce is simmering, mix about a tablespoon and a half into 1/4 cup of cold water.
Into your corn starch water, add a teaspoon of sugar.
When your sauce is done and your veggies are nice and fork tender, slowly stir in the corn starch-sugar mix to thicken. Boom. Done.
I always forget to buy the right kind of noodles for this sauce, but that's ok because I love this over rice. If you want to eat it over noodles, you have to find thick noodles that are made from wheat flour--totally different from pasta type noodles.
You can thinly julienne some cucumber for garnish and add on top of your dish. Eat this with pickles, kimchi or pickled, yellow radishes.
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