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RECIPE: Zha jiang mian, or Beijing bolognese
In this week's food section we talked a bit about zha jiang mian, a popular northern Chinese dish that resembles bolognese in appearance (meat sauce over noodles) but definitely not in taste.
RECIPE: Zha jiang mian, or Beijing bolognese
In this week's food section I talked a bit about zha jiang mian, a popular northern Chinese dish that resembles bolognese in appearance (meat sauce over noodles) but definitely not in taste. (Swap that tomato base for jarred soybean goop, mmm.) As noted in the piece, there are a million variations on this dish, but the principle is steadfast — mild meat base (ground pork) flavored with pungent fermented bean pastes that, when mixed in smart proportion, produce a sauce with that distinctive, satisfying ability to warm you the hell up. This is a sticky-chinned slurping dish through and through.
Both Nan Zhou (927 Race St.) and Yummy Lan Zhou (131 N. 10th St.) offer zha jiang mian as "Noodle with Pork Soy Sauce" (above), but it's pretty easy to recreate at home if you pay attention. Check out my recipe below.
Zha Jiang Mian (Beijing Bolognese)
Go Get This:
1 lb. ground pork
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 scallion stalks, chopped
1 jar Union Foods brand bean paste
1 jar Union Foods brand hot broad bean paste
1 cup water
1 package Chinese noodles
1 tsp. brown sugar (with more on reserve to taste)
Raw sprouts (as garnish)
Sesame oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Now Do This:
Coat the bottom of a large pan with sesame oil and place on medium-high heat. Add white onion and cook until slightly soft, 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ground pork, season with salt and pepper and cook until there's very little pink left in the meat, 6-8 minutes.
Now it's time to add your bean pastes — this is going to be a matter of personal taste. I used three heaping spoonfuls of the regular bean paste, two heaping spoonfuls of the hot broad bean paste and a teaspoon of brown sugar; different ratios of these three ingredients will produce different results, and it's easy to adjust, so don't sweat it too much.
After dolloping in the pastes, add water and cucumbers, stir to combine and bring pan to a boil. After it boils, reduce heat and let the sauce simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes. (While it's simmering, prepare your noodles according to package instructions.) Taste the sauce frequently to get a gauge on it. If it's too sweet, add more hot broad bean paste and/or black pepper. If it's too funky, adjust with regular bean paste and brown sugar. It's done when most all the added water has evaporated and the cucumbers are cooked to a soft but not mushy consistency. Add chopped scallions to the sauce and mix in just before serving.
Ladle sauce over cooked noodles, garnish with sprouts and enjoy.
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