Jjajangbap - My guilty pleasure

Jjajangbap. After living in Seoul, I've now developed a (chronic) jjajangmyeon craving. When I was living in the States, a proper cheeseburger would call my name. But now, I've found a new owner - black bean noodles ha! But there's one drawback with noodles: it always leaves me slightly hungry. It never feel like a proper meal without some rice... (I think it's also a sign that I am now turning into an ahjussi 🙃). That's why Jjajangbap is my go-to! It combines black bean sauce and rice in one dish.

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Neighbors, I make this dish alot at home. So I'll add a few cooking notes for your reference.

Few cooking notes to remember:

• When making Jjajang sauce, remember to fry the chunjang paste. This frying process eliminates the bitter taste in the raw black paste. Fry the paste on a low heat (!)
• If you're really hungry and pressed for time, no need to make an omelette. Simply fry an egg sunny-side up. It tastes just as delicious! That's how I usually eat it 😄
• When thickening the sauce, add only half of the starch water at first. Then add more if necessary. (Conversely, you can also add some water if the paste gets too chunky)
• If you like spicy, add a few shakes of gochugaru over the top of your jajang sauce.
• This sauce will be enough for 2-3 large servings. Save any leftovers in the fridge and just reheat for breakfast.
• The raw chunjang (black bean) paste should be tied up and stored in the refrigerator after opening. Also, the package usually has enough for 7-8 servings.

Jjajangbap - Black Bean Sauce & Rice

Delicious black bean sauce with a fluffy omelette filled with hot white rice. Sounds delicious no? 

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Easy

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

• Pork strips - 200 grams i'm using loin chop
• Onion - 1 whole medium-sized
• Potato - 1 whole medium-sized, size of your palm
• Zucchini - small piece length of your pinky finger
• Cabbage - few layers
• Chunjang paste - 4 Tablespoons aka "black bean" paste
• Water - 1 cup 
• Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
• Oyster sauce - 1 Tablespoon
• Cooked Rice - 1 cup

Pork Seasoning

• Mirim - 1 Tablespoon optional
• Salt - few shakes
• Black pepper - few shakes

Starch Water

• Water - 3 Tablespoons
• Corn starch - 3 Tablespoons

Egg Omelette

• Eggs - 3 whole
• Spring onion - 1 piece size of your forearm
• Carrot - small piece

Instructions

Prep ingredients

• Dice onion, potato, zucchini and cabbage into small pieces. 
• Cut pork chops into small chunks. Place into a small mixing bowl. Season with mirim (1T), salt and pepper (few shakes). Let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Take out a large frying pan. Place on medium-high heat. Put in a good amount of cooking oil. Once the pan is hot, place-in the potatoes, onions and pork pieces. Stir it around until the pork pieces loses all the red color on the outside. 
• Then add-in the zucchini and cabbage pieces. Stir everything around for 2-3 minutes until the onions turn translucent. Turn heat off and empty stir-fry out into a mixing bowl. Set aside for now. Clean frying pan out with a paper towel for next step.

Make JajangSauce

• Put your frying pan back on a low-heat (!). It will still have residual heat from the previous step. 
• Then add in 3 Tablespoons of cooking oil. Let it get hot. 
• Once hot, place the Chunjang paste (4 Tablespoons) into the oil. The paste will gently sizzle in the oil. (Adjust heat if necessary.) Then stir around in the oil for 2 minutes with a wooden spoon. 
• After 2 minutes, add in the stir-fried veggies into the frying pan. Mix and stir everything together for additional 2 minutes. 
• Now, add in water (1 cup). Raise the heat to a medium and bring the mixture up to a gentle boil. 
• Add in sugar (1T) and oyster sauce (1T). 
• Let the mixture gently boil until the potatoes/zucchini gets soft. Stir occasionally. It should take around 5 minutes. 
• In the meanwhile, let's make starch water: Mix water (3T) and corn starch (3T)
• Add in about half of the starch water to thicken the sauce. (Note: When you add the starch water, pour in a circular motion. You don't want it to pour in just one area.) Check the consistency and add more starch water if needed. 
• Turn off the heat. Grab some rice and place it on a large plate. 

Make Omelette

• Crack 3 eggs. Stir them together. Then place through a strainer.
• Dice carrot into small cubes. Cut spring onion into thin slices.
• Put a small frying pan on medium heat. 
• Place a good amount of cooking oil in. 
• Once hot, add the spring onion and carrots in. Let it sizzle in the oil for a few seconds to release its flavor. 
• Then add in the eggs. Immediately stir the egg mixture around with your chopstick to create curdles. Bring them to the middle of the pan. Once the egg starts to set, don't touch it anymore. Once its 70% fully cooked, use a spatula and lift it out of the pan. Place it over your rice.
• Spread JajangSauce on the side. Bon Appetit! Enjoy life 🙂

Notes

• You can replace the pork pieces with beef (or even tofu)
• See video below for more details

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