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.
