Hello hello everybody! : )
I’m re-introducing jjajangmyeon recipe (noodles in black bean sauce) to you today with a new, updated video. I originally uploaded a video showing you how to make jjajangmyeon in 2007, not long after I started posting to YouTube. Yes, it was 5 years ago! Time flies too fast!
That video was so popular that I decided to make a new version that’s easier to follow, and also shows you how to make jjajangbap with rice instead of noodles.
Jjajangmyeon is everybody’s favorite food. It’s actually a very popular Korean Chinese dish, created by early Chinese immigrants in Korea, catering to Korean tastes. Tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) is another example. The almost caramel taste of the savory black bean sauce over the thick, chewy wheat flour noodles makes for a really unique taste and texture. When I was young, a plate of jjajangmyeon from a Chinese restaurant always made me excited. When you order it delivered they bring you the noodles in a special tin box in under 30 minutes! I usually ended up covered in jjajang sauce and my mom had to give me a Kleenex.
Koreans even have a nonofficial celebration for jjm on April 14th, when single people celebrate their shared loneliness on Black Day with a bowl of jjajangmyeon.
Enjoy the recipe!
Ingredients for 2-3 servings
- jjajangmyeon noodles
- ½ pound pork belly, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1½ cups’ worth)
- 1 cup of Korean radish (or daikon), cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1 cup’s worth)
- 1 cup of zucchini, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup of potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1½ cups of onion chunks
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon of chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
- 2 tablespoons of potato starch powder, combined with ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl, set aside
- 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
- ½ cup cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks for garnish
- water
Directions for making jjajang sauce
- Stir-fry the pork belly in a large, deep wok (or pan) with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for about 4-5 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
- Pour out the excess pork fat.
- Add radish and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Add potato, onion, and zucchini and keep stirring for about 3 minutes until the potato looks a little translucent.
- Clear a space in the center of the wok by pushing the ingredients to the edges.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil to the center of the wok, then add ¼ cup of black bean paste and stir it with a wooden spoon for 1 minute to fry it. Then mix everything in the wok and keep stirring.
- Add 2 cups of water to the wok and let it simmer and cook with the lid closed for about 10 minutes.
- Open the lid and taste a sample of the radish and potato. If they’re fully cooked, stir in the starch water little by little. Keep stirring until it’s well mixed and thick.
- Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat.
- Serve with noodles (jjajangmyeon) or steamed rice (jjajangbap).
Make jjajangmyeon
Noodles for jjajangmyeon can be found at Korean grocery stores. The noodles are thick and chewy.
- Boil the noodles in a large pot and drain. Rinse and strain in cold water.
- Put one serving of noodles onto a serving plate and add the jjajang sauce over top. Garnish with cucumber strips and serve immediately with kimchi or yellow pickled radish.
Make jjajangbap
- Make one serving of rice, and add the jjajang sauce over top.
- Garnish with cucumber strips on top of the jjajang sauce and serve it with kimchi or yellow pickled radish.
Over 500 comments! Wow!
I guess I should comment too! I remember your first jjajangmyeon video! I remember watching it a lot. You used sweet potato instead of regular potato. I should try making this again. I still have a box of black bean paste in my fridge!
Congratulations on 5 years of videos! 축하합니다 ! That’s very formal, I know, but I have such great respect and love for you that I must be formal! Here’s to many more years of videos! I will never stop watching and making Korean food!
Love, Kerri
yeah oredi 5 years! : ) Thank you, Kerri, one of the wonderful things to come out of providing Korean recipes through YouTube and my website is that I’ve met all wonderful people from all around the world. You are the one of them of course.
Let me know how your jjajangmyeon turns out by the way!
hi, mangchi, long time viewer and youtube subscriber. As a Korean, this is one of my favorite dishes, but I was wondering if it’s possible to recreate this level of quality and taste with the ottogi (오뚜기) powder, or at least something close to it, since it’s so much cheaper.
thanks, i will be awaiting your reply.
“if it’s possible to recreate this level of quality and taste with the ottogi (오뚜기) powder” I don’t know the answer because I have never used the powder.
yes…you’ve done this video long time ago…And that 짜장면 vid. makes me follow all your recipe and ingredients for my love one’s daily meal…
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR BLOGS AND VIDEO <3 <3 <3
Keep it up !!! And God bless you always ^^
Thank you so much for your nice words! You are awesome!
Oh look so delicious! I love that you are redoing the old videos! I cannot believe it has almost been that long since you first posted the original jjajangmyun recipie! How time flies when you are cooking and eating good food! :D
I will have to pick up some black bean paste this weekend when I go to the Asian store. I am so glad I live in a place where I can find all the Korean ingredients. I feel so lucky!
OK! Thank you Maangchi! <3 <3 <3
yeah, 5 years ago exactly july 2007, I uploaded the old video! At that time I didn’t even have a website. Many people on YouTube are leaving great comments now. Most of them sound like they have been watching my videos for a long time. Yeah I feel like they are my old friends. You, too! : ) I feel a little emotional.
Hey, Maangchi! Just want to tell you that because of you, I started cooking Korean stuff (and my husband loves it, just by the way!) Quick question. I only keep kosher but I’m not too sure if the black bean paste is. Do you know anything about the paste being kosher or do you have any substitutes I can use? I’d really love it if the paste was okay for me to eat because I’d love to eat jjajangmyeon the real way, lol! :)
Hello
Thanks for posting this recipe.
I was dying to eat Jajangmyeon, but did I not found any site of my country with the recipe. Now I can make this recipe.
Thank you and success for you.
Thank you so much for your nice words! Cheers!
Hi maangchi!
So I before I try this recipe out I was wondering, I bought sweetened black bean paste, would I just skip the adding sugar step? And would the sweetened black bean paste make the recipe too sweet?
Thank you!
I would make jjajang sauce without sugar and then add sugar if it’s needed.
I remember eating Jjajangmyeon when I was growing up. I plan on making it for my wife this weekend. I can’t wait!
I hope it turns out great! Let me know the result!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I have had all of the ingredients for quite a while, but I know that if you overdo the bean paste, you can destroy the taste of the dish. I’ve been looking for quite some time for the recipe. Thank you so much!
Good luck with making delicious jjajangmyeon!
I cooked your Jjajangmyeon today and it was sooo delicious!!!
Thank you for your great recipes!
Thank you for your update! Cheers!
Hi…I was wondering if i could use beef instead of pork? and does it have to be a korean radish? the closest asian store to me is a vietnamese store and when it comes to vegetables most of them are vietnamese and i really want to cook this. Thank you for your hardwork.
Yes, you can use beef instead of pork. “does it have to be a korean radish?” no, you can use daikon or skip it. If you skip it, add more potato and onion.
Hi could someone answer please? I have a jar of Black Bean Garlic Sauce. Is that the same thing? or can i not use it? Because i was planning on making jja ja myeong for dinner and i really need an answer. Please and thank you.
-Emergency!!!!
To make Jjajangmyeon sauce, you need chujang which is very black sticky paste. You can get it at a Korean grocery store. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/black-bean-paste
If my jar says “Roasted Black Bean Paste,” can I skip the step of frying the paste, or will frying it enhance the flavor even more?
You don’t have to fry it again. Use it without frying.
Hello Maangchi ! :)
I would like to ask something.I am a Muslim and I cannot eat pork so can I change it ?
Then , the noodles and also the black bean paste,is it contained any pork in it?
Please reply this as soon as possible.
Thank you ;)
I can answer this one :-) I’ve only made jjajangmyun once, and I made it without pork. It was still delicious. And I just checked the ingredients in the bean paste, it’s vegetarian. No pork at all.
SoffyyEmira, yes you can replace pork with beef. Godisgood, thank you very much!
is there a special cut of beef that we can use that is similar to the pork belly? Annyeong and Salaam SoffyEmira! I’m a muslim too from the states!!!
Hi Maangchi, my husband was wondering if there was a way to make the sauce taste more like the instant noodle sauce in the packages?
How can I know!!! : ) cheers!
Hi Maangchi, I’m so happy to have found you! My mother was Korean and a very good cook! She passed when I was a teenager, and I forgot how to follow some of her recipes. Since I found you, I have been making Korean food everyday! I love that your recipes are simple to make, and I also like that you show the Korean ingredients and packages, to help me find what I need to buy at the Korean supermarket. You always make me smile with your great attitude, and I hope one day we can cook together too!
I know what you mean. I love the flavor of the packaged black bean noodles but obviously fresh is healthier and better! I tried this recipe a long time ago and it turned out flat tasting- and bland. I don’t know if I bought a poor quality black bean paste or what but I like the savory, sweet, oniony flavor. You know that little oil packet that comes with the package noodles? It has a slightly savory smell- I wonder what it is?
I will make it again because my daughter loves this dish. I’ll probably add more sugar and maybe cook the pork and veggies until they are really caramelized for more intense flavor! Good luck!