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.
Aw Maangchi, you are a star! Really love the unaffected way you present your videos – warm, homely and friendly! I live close to Durban, South Africa and maybe I am your first South African fan? Although cooking Indian food since I was a kid, after many trips to the East and specifically on holiday in Kuala Lumpur, my love for Thai and Chinese food went through the roof and now I found your lovely Korean offerings! I will probably also struggle to find black bean paste, but I am sure Chinese stores will stock it. A few question, as a strict vegetarian not really into soy substitutes —
1) would black mushrooms work in place of the pork you used and maybe the cheese I make, which can be grilled or fried?
2) Would teriyaki sauce be okay to replace the fish stock you use? Or what vegetarian alternative do you recommend?
3) What is Buchu? (from your Kimchi recipe, which sounds divine and I want to try and make as well.
Maangchi, thank you — sure looks like we keep you very busy with all our many questions! You sound like a very special family!
Thank you for your nice words about my website and recipes. I have some of South African readers, but not many just as you said. : ) This is my answers to your questions:
1. black mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms will work well.
2. No, you need chunjang (black bean paste) : https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/black-bean-paste It’s sold in Korean grocery stores.
I found 2 Korean stores submitted by my South African readers but 1 is in Cape Town and the other is in Johannesburg. I hope one of the stores are in your area where you are living. https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/south-africa
3. Buchu is Asian chives. You can replace it with green onions in all my recipes. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/asian-chives
Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Hello Maangchi I really love your recipes i just try this one and i love it!!
In few words my parents and sister too, and incredible one of my cousins(he’s 7 years old and don’t like to eat vegetables)
Here’s the picture hope you can see it! :D
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=229823993858092&set=a.122637897910036.22562.100004914787094&type=3&theater
Thank you!!
p.s: I’m learning korean and i love the idea “Learn this in korean” :D
감사합니다!!!
I will try this for Black Day.
Can i use the black bean paste you see in the link?
http://www.amazon.de/Wu-Chung-Schwarze-Bohnen-Paste/dp/B006GC4J6W/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_d_4
Hey Maangchi! Thanks for the recipes! I made jjajangmyeon tonight, I just substituted the noodles with Udon noodles because they’re just more practical to keep, and it was freaking delicious! I love the mixture of textures with the potatoes, the pork <3
I made a little video of my happy cooking :)
http://instagram.com/p/mGQIXou9J_/
awesome, yes, yours looks very delicious!
Hi maangchi, I tried your recipe and it was sooooooooo good, my 3-year old son absolutely adored it! One question: your sauce is like a rich dark brown and mine turned out more pale. Could you know why?
Your 3 year old son loved your jjajangmyeon! Cute~ : )
Add more chujang(black bean paste) if you like the sauce darker.
Hi Maangchi,
I couldn’t find black bean paste anywhere around me like the one you used in the video. Can I just add black bean sauce from a bottle into the recipe?
Thanks
Sorry to say that you need Korean black bean paste. Check out a Korean grocery store in your area, please. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/black-bean-paste
This is a list of Korean grocery stores in UK. I find one in Notthingham. https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/uk
hi Maangchi! i don’t have potato starch. Can I use cornstarch instead?
yes, corn starch will work well, too.
Hi MaangChi, does the jajang contain any MSG? I’ll be travelling to Korea and I’m looking forward to trying this dish! the thing is I’m allergic to MSG, so is jajang myeon safe for me? Thanks alot! (:
yes, it does.
sigh. guess I’ll have to make-do with other korean dishes then! thanks again. (:
Does anyone know of any videos or websites online that make Jjajangmyeon from the powder? My Asian Market doesn’t carry the paste, so I bought the powder. But the instructions are in Korean. I know, I know. I should just look the words up in a Korean dictionary, but it would be nice to have someone else who had made it this way and recorded it either via video or just writing down the instructions and taking pictures.
Just add the powder in one cup of water (or less, depending on how many people are eating) and stir it. You cook the vegetables and stuff in the pot first, then add the sauce (and cooked meat) in and mix it. Once the sauce gets thick, turn it off and take the pot of the stove. You can adjust it too. If you like it less thick, leave it on the stove less. I like mine thick though. C:
I’ve always used the powder base. My mom used it every since I was a little girl (she hand made the noodles too). Never tried the paste. Maybe it’s time to try the paste.
Hi MaangChi. I’m Joyce. I would like to make 짜장면 but I have a question about the cup you use. How big is it? I mean the red one which you always use.
I bought the cups from IKEA in New York, which is very cheap. 1 cup is 240 ML.
I just made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for empowering me to cook and to save $$$ on not eating out at restaurants (I can go shopping now!). It feels SO good not to drive an hour to Los Angeles to eat something that I can just cook at home. Thank you for enriching our lives and our stomachs!
yes, homemade food is delicious plus healthy, and saves your money and time! : )
Hi,, its my fault.I bough soy bean paste instead black bean paste.Is that ok to use soy bean paste :d
Thank you
Helen
Helen, you need black bean paste to make jjajang sauce. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/black-bean-paste
The soybean paste is an essential Korean sauce. You can make many of delicious dishes with it. : https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/doenjang
Maangchi…The first time I ever heard of 짜장면 we were watching the kdrama “Coffee Prince”. The female lead ate 4 or 5 bowls of these messy looking noodles in some black sauce. I was curious and Googled it. That was how I found your website. The first time I made it, it was delicious and it was so easy to make. Now I make the sauce ahead of time and then I just have to boil 1 bundle of noodles, re-heat the sauce and with a side of kimchi I have a quick, delicious and filling dinner! 감사합니다!
Dave
I’m glad you enjoy this recipe. Not only noodles or rice but it also goes well with steamed buns. Good luck with your Korean cooking!
the dish looks like japanese curry…yummy~~~~