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Jajangmyeon
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4.94 from 30 votes

Jajangmyeon Noodles

These noodles are the most ordered take-out noodles in Korea. From K-dramas to late-night dining, the dish has become a mainstay in everyday life in Korea
Course: Medium
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • ½ Cup Black Bean Paste (aka Chunjang Paste)
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 Cup Vegetable oil (for frying the paste)
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 6-8 Tablespoons Starch Water

Fresh ingredients

  • 1 Onion
  • ⅕ a whole Cabbage
  • 2 stalks Spring onion
  • 200 grams Pork
  • ¼ a whole Cucumber
  • 4 servings Jajangmyeon noodle

Instructions

Prep fresh ingredients

  • Cut onion and cabbage into rough cubes. Cut pork into bite-sized pieces.
  • Cut cucumbers into thin, long strips for garnish.

Fry black bean paste

  • Put black bean paste into frying pan. Pour 1 cup of vegetable oil in. Turn on medium-low heat. Make sure to move paste around while the oil come up to a boil.
  • Once the oil starts to sizzle with bubbles, fry for another 30 seconds.
  • Then take-out the fried paste and place in a bowl. Pour out any excess oil from the bowl and set aside.

Make Jajangmyeon Noodles

  • Put 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Place the frying pan on a medium heat. Then put in the sliced spring onion pieces.
  • Once spring onion starts to sizzle, place in pork pieces. When most of the red is cooked away from the pork, add the onion and cabbage in.
  • Then add the fried black bean paste, along with the sugar. Stir-in the black paste and coat all of the vegetables.
  • Then add two cups of water into the mixture.
  • While the pot starts to re-boil, take out a small bowl and make starch water: Mix in 2 tablespoons of (potato) starch powder with 6 tablespoons of water.
  • Once the pot is boiling, put in this starch water into the sauce. Don't add all of it at once. Add a little and see how much more you need to thicken-up into the consistency of a curry sauce.
  • Let it gently simmer for 5-8 minutes on medium heat. Then turn off the heat. Scoop sauce over noodles and garnish with cucumber.

Notes

  • Save the leftover sauce - and eat it over rice in the morning!
  • You can find fresh noodles for Jajangmyeon at Korean marts. If that is not available – feel free to improvise and work with egg or wheat noodles. I have even used spaghetti noodles in the past!
  • Watch video below for more details