Zha Jiang Mian (Fried Sauce Noodles, 炸酱面)

Note: This recipe was originally published in May 2017. This revised version includes minor recipe alteration, process photos, and a video tutorial.

What is Zha Jiang Mian

I worked in Beijing for quite a few years before living abroad, and I consider it as my second home. In this mega-city, with amazing food from every corner of China on offer, traditional Beijing cuisine is always treasured by locals and migrants alike. Apart from the famous Peking duck, I adore its signature dish, Zhá Jiàng Miàn/炸酱面, the noodle dish I cook the most often for my family.

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The literal meaning of Zhá Jiàng Miàn is “fried sauce noodles”. It consists of three components: pork cubes braised in a savory, aromatic sauce; thick noodles; and a variety of crunchy vegetables.

Like many iconic Chinese noodle dishes, such as Dan Dan Noodles, Chongqing Noodles, and Beef Chow Fun, it makes a wonderful weekday dinner. What I love about this iconic dish is its flexibility:

• The meat sauce can be made in big batches for later use, making it so convenient!
• You’re free to improvise with whatever noodles and vegetables you have on hand.

Ingredients & substitutes

Meat options

For an authentic taste, I suggest you choose pork belly or other cuts that have a high-fat content. Cut it into small cubes for quick cooking and a nice bite.

• Use ground pork to substitute if you wish to save time on chopping.
• Want to use other meat? Replace pork with beef, chicken, or lamb.
• To make it vegan, use dried tofu (豆腐干) or shiitake mushrooms instead.

Condiments & aromatics

These are the ingredients that lend flavor to the meat sauce:

• Yellow bean paste
• Sweet flour sauce
• Shaoxing rice wine
• Star anise
• Scallions
• Ginger

About yellow bean paste

Yellow bean paste (Huáng Dòu Jiàng/黄豆酱), a popular condiment in northern Chinese cuisine, is a dark brown, thick, slightly lumpy sauce made of fermented soybeans, wheat, salt and water. The variation of its names include 黄酱, 大豆酱, 干黄酱 (the extra-dry version) in Chinese and yellow soybean paste, soybean sauce in English.

🌟 To substitute, I often use Sichuan chili bean paste (aka doubanjiang) for an extra hot taste.

About sweet flour sauce

Sweet flour sauce (Tián Miàn Jiàng/甜面酱) is made of fermented wheat flour and it has a darker, runnier, and smoother texture than yellow bean paste. As its name suggests, it has a noticeable sweet taste which nicely balances the saltiness.

🌟 To substitute, you may use hoisin sauce. Alternatively, use yellow bean paste solely and add a little sugar.

Noodle choices

Traditionally, Beijing cooks use hand-cut noodles (手擀面) for Zha Jiang Mian. A piece of firm dough (made of flour, water, and a little salt) is rolled flat with a rolling pin and then cut into long, thick noodles.

Other types of noodles work well too:

• Shop-bought dried noodles are a time-saving alternative.
• Hand-pulled noodles are the type I use the most often as they have a similar texture to hand-cut noodles.
• Fresh ramen noodles made with a pasta machine are also a great option.

Veggie toppings

Vegetables play an important role in Zha Jiang Mian. They are used either raw or quickly blanched, preserving most of their nutrition. The natural taste of vegetables goes very well with the salty sauce, giving this dish an excellent balance.

As shown in the pictures, I chose to use cucumber, beansprouts, red radishes, and edamame (aka fresh soybeans). Many other vegetables work well too, such as Napa cabbage, carrot, celery, kohlrabi, etc.

Cooking procedure

Step 1: Cook the sauce

Heat a little cooking oil in a wok or a large skillet. Sizzle the green part of the scallions, minced ginger, and star anise until fragrant.

Stir in the pork cubes and fry until they lose their pink color (If using ground meat, use a spatula to loosen any lumps).

Pour in Shaoxing rice wine, then add yellow bean paste and sweet flour sauce.

Toss well and top with a little water.

Once the sauce comes to a gentle boil, cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (or 15 minutes if using ground meat).

Uncover and turn up the heat. Let the sauce boil briefly to thicken the consistency. Then stir in the remaining scallions to finish.

Step 2: Prepare the vegetables

First, blanch edamame beans in boiling water for about 1 minute if chilled, or 2 minutes if frozen. Then, add bean sprouts and blanch them for no longer than 20 seconds to remove their rawness but retain the crunchy texture.

Cut the cucumber into matchsticks and thinly slice the red radishes.

Step 3: Boil the noodles

Use the same water in which the vegetables are blanched. Add more if necessary and bring it to a full boil over high heat. Put in the noodles. Once it comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low (be attentive to avoid boiling over).

Simmer until the noodles are just cooked. The time required depends on the noodle type. Taste a strand if unsure.

Optional step: Rinse the cooked noodles for a few seconds under running water. This is to remove any surface starch and achieve a silky mouthfeel.

Step 4: Assemble the dish

Once you’ve got all the elements ready, simply assemble them in serving bowls. Alternatives, only add the noodles to each bowl and let the diners decide how much the meat sauce and which veggie toppings to use.

Don’t forget to give everything a thorough toss before tucking in!

Make-ahead

As I mentioned earlier, I make Zha Jiang Mian regularly. But I don’t cook the saucy meat topping every time. Usually, I make it in a big batch and freeze any leftovers for later. Here are my make-ahead tips:

• Increase the ingredient quantity proportionally and follow the same procedure to make the sauce.
• Once completely cool, divide the sauce into small portions and refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for 3 months.
• Defrost in the fridge then reheat before serving.

Other popular noodles

Want to learn more authentic Chinese noodle dishes? Here are more to try:

Dan Dan Noodles (Spicy Sichuan Noodles, 担担面)

Scallion Oil Noodles (Cong You Ban Mian, 葱油拌面)

Chow Mein (Chinese Fried Noodles, 炒面)

Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun, 干炒牛河)

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5 from 36 votes

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面)

By Wei Guo

Chewy noodles served with an irresistible pork sauce and crunchy vegetable toppings, Zha Jiang Mian is a signature Beijing dish that’s perfect for weekday dinners.

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Servings: 4

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Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the pork:

• ▢ 10 oz pork belly, or ground pork (see note 1)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
• ▢ 3 stalk scallions, chopped and divided
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• ▢ 1 piece star anise
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
• ▢ 4 tablespoon yellow bean paste, see note 2 & 3
• ▢ 2 tablespoon sweet bean sauce, see note 4
• ▢ ⅔ cup water

For the vegetables

• ▢ 1 large cucumber
• ▢ 8 red radish
• ▢ ½ cup edamame, aka fresh soybeans
• ▢ 2 cup bean sprouts

For the noodles

• ▢ 4 portion noodles, fresh or dried (see note 5)

Instructions 

Cook the pork

• Cut pork belly into small cubes (about 1/3 inch/1 cm). Keep its skin on if any. 
• Heat oil in a wok (or a skillet) over medium heat. Add the green part of the scallions, ginger, and star anise. Leave to sizzle until fragrant.
• Stir in the pork. Fry until it turns pale. Add Shaoxing rice wine, yellow bean paste, and sweet flour sauce. Mix well then add water.
• Cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (or 15 minutes if using ground meat).
• Turn the heat up to high and leave to cook uncovered until the sauce thickens further.  Stir in the remaining scallions and set aside.

Prepare the vegetables

• While waiting for the pork to cook, prepare the vegetable toppings. Cut the cucumber into matchsticks, and thinly slice the red radish.
• Blanch edamame in boiling water for 1 minute if chilled, or 2 minutes if frozen. Add beansprouts and continue blanching for about 20 seconds. Fish out the edamame and sprouts.

Boil the noodles

• Add noodles to the same pot of boiling water (top up with more if necessary), and boil until fully cooked. Drain then rinse under cold water for a few seconds to remove surface starch (skip rinsing if your tap water isn’t portable).

Assemble the dish

• Place the noodles in four serving bowls. Add the pork sauce and all the vegetable toppings. Stir well before tucking in.

Notes

1. You may replace pork with beef, lamb, or chicken. To make the dish vegan, use dried tofu (豆腐干) or shiitake mushroom as substitutes.

2. This recipe uses regular yellow bean paste (黄豆酱). You may also use the dry version, known as 干黄酱,  which has a rather solid texture. In this case, dilute it with water before adding it to the pork.

3. To substitute yellow bean paste, use Sichuan chili bean paste (aka doubanjiang) or Korean black bean sauce (aka Chunjang).

4. Hoisin sauce can be used to replace sweet flour sauce.

5. The traditional recipe calls for thick noodles. However, thinner noodles work well too. For dried noodles,  use about 3oz (85g) for one portion.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 618kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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