hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to Korean comfort food classics with a shot at one of my absolute favorite noodle dishes, which is a korean jajangmyeon. For those unfamiliar, jajangmyeon is a noodle dish done with a thick Korean udon noodle, topped with a diced vegetable and pork based sauce, and most iconically bound together using a Korean black bean paste, or “chunjang.” Now, if this is sounding at all familiar to you, it’s likely because not too long ago, we did a recipe for the Chinese version of this dish, known as zhajiangmian. As you might guess, these two dishes have A LOT in common, with probably their biggest differences lying simply in their cultural origins. This of course brings to light one of my favorite aspects of this dish, which is that it occurs in MANY different food cultures with slight variations, which I find fascinating. So! Today we’re gonna be taking a look at what exactly sets the korean version of jajangmyeon apart from other cultures, as well as what are its similarities, and of course, how does that inform how we approach korean cooking in general. Hope you try it.

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 2 medium zucchini

  • 1/2 medium white onion

  • 4-6oz (about 2 inches) cucumber

  • pickled daikon

  • 8oz pork belly

  • 16oz Korean udon noodles

  • corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water)

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1 tbsp mirin

  • 4 tbsp korean black bean paste

  • 1/4 cup water

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, set aside

  • MINCE ginger, set aside

  • DICE the onion, set aside

  • DICE the zucchini, set aside

  • QUARTER the cucumber, then remove the seeds, and slice into a julienne cut

  • DICE the pork belly, set aside

  • SLICE the pickled daikon, set aside

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • BOIL a pot of water, then add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes with constant agitation

  • REMOVE the noodles from heat, strain, and shock with cold water immediately

  • ADD the pork belly to a cold wok with 1/4 cup water, then set over medium low heat for 5-10 minutes until the liquid fat renders, and the pork solids are crisp and brown

  • HEAT the wok as hot as possible, then add the garlic and ginger for 15 seconds until fragrant

  • ADD the zucchini and saute for 2-3 minutes

  • ADD the onion and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes

  • ADD the sauce, then let simmer for 3-5 minutes, adding additional water as needed

  • ADD the corn starch slurry, then toss until a thick sauce forms

  • SERVE over noodles, and garnish with cucumber and pickled daikon

 

tagged with woo can cook, jajangmyeon, black bean paste, chunjang, korean noodles, korean cooking, korean ja jang myeon, korean food, korean recipe

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