Halal Beef Jjajangmyeon
It genuinely makes me sad to know that there are some people out there who haven’t had the privilege to try this absolute bombshell of a comfort dish. Whether it’s in the name - black bean noodles doesn’t necessarily sound too exciting, and I get that. The fact it’s noodles covered in a dense, thick, and rich black sludge probably also isn’t supporting its cause but I promise this is love at first bite.
This dish is a Korean spin on a Chinese classical dish called Zhajiangmian - they sound similar clearly. And the king and short version of the story is that Chinese immigrants from Shangdong brought this dish over with them when they came to Korea, and landed in Incheon (same city you’ll probably land in if you ever fly to Seoul)
Now traditionally this dish is served with a fatty pork belly - but alas, I fear god. So my version is made halal by subbing this out with beef or chicken. In my extra version, I’ll render out some beef bacon to mimic the cattiness of pork belly. But to keep things simple today, I’m just using some left over steak I had sitting in my fridge (I’m using a tender fillet)
The one key component in the entire dish is the black bean paste. It’s readily available in the international aisle of most major grocery chains - but for a sure fire cop, head to your local Asian or Korean grocery store. It’s the key to this dish. In retrospect I would actually add more than I did in this dish to get that super dark and lucious looking gloss on your noodles like the traditional version calls for.
This dish is ultra savoury, a hint of sweet and salty, and if you decide to add chili flakes it can have a balance of heat. On a rainy day, with a warm blanket and a good show to watch, nothing will top having a hearty bowl of these noodles. Now let’s jump into it
Ingredients:
Jjajangmyeon Recipe
* Noodle of Choice
* Beef bacon (optional)
* Any cut of steak, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1½ cups’ worth)
* 1 cup of zucchini, cut into ½ inch cubes
* 1 cup of potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
* 1 cup of cabbage (about a quarter of a head)
* 1 large onion (about ½ cup worth)
* 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
* 1 cup water or beef stock
* 1 tsp minced ginger
* 1 tsp ginger powder
* 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
* 1 tbs oyster sauce (optional)
* ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon of chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
* 2 Tbs of corn starch powder
* ¼ cup water for slurry
* 1 teaspoon of sugar for slurry
* 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
* ½ cup cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks for garnish
The Breakdown:
Prep all over your veggies since this is stir fry comes together pretty quickly. And also cut your protein of choice into nice chunky bite sized pieces. Your veggies can be given a rough dice of equal size to assure everything cooks evenly
You’ll want to start in a small sauce pan or a wok with a good amount of neutral oil, and add in your black bean paste. Stir fry on medium-high for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set to the side, making sure you retain some of that oil you just fried it in
In a large pan, or wok. Begin by using some of that reserve oil on medium high heat to give your potatoes a head start since they’ll take the longest. Once they begin to start to develop some colour, introduce your onion, ginger and garlic and stir fry until fragrant (2-3 mins)
Introduce some more oil if need be, and your protein of choice.
Add the remainder of your veggies , soy sauce, oyster sauce and stir. Then create a well in the middle for your black bean paste - notice we went from potatoes, to onion, to items that cook rather quickly like zucchini and cabbage - this should be your methodology for all stir fry’s.
Now add your stock of choice or water, and a cornstarch slurry and allow the sauce to reduce and get nice and thick.
Once at your preferred thickness, finish with some gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) if you like it spicy, and a dash of sesame oil.
Only once your sauce is to your liking, boil the noodles of your choice , and serve with thinly sliced cucumber.
Mandatory to watch something while you eat this.
