Jja Jang Myun (black bean noodles)

Jja Jang Myun (black bean noodles)

 

Ingredients:

Noodles (special “myun” for jja jang myun),
black bean paste (“chun jang”),
half pound of pork belly,
sugar, olive oil, potato starch powder,
sesame oil,
Korean radish (“moo woo”),
potato, zucchini, onion, and cucumber.
Makes 4 servings.

Instruction :

1. Cut the of pork into ½ inch (about 1cm) cubes. Leave the skin on.
2. Add ½ TBS of olive oil to a heated wok. When that’s hot, add the pork and stir fry it until it looks crispy.
3. When the pork is well cooked and the color turns golden brown, drain all the hot fat and set the pork aside.
4. Leave it in the wok. We’re going to use this later.
5. Preheat a small skillet over medium heat with 1 TBS of vegetable oil. When that’s hot, add 2 TBS of black bean paste and stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Remove the extra oil and set the black bean paste aside.

Cut all vegetables into ½ inch cubes and place them on a big plate or tray. You will end up with 1 cup of radish, 1 cup of potato, 1 cup of zucchini, and 2 cups of onion.

1. Reheat the crispy pork in your wok over high heat, and add 1 TBS of olive oil.
2. Add radish and potato and saute them for 2 minutes. Then add zucchini and onion and saute them for another 2 minutes.
3. Add 7 cups of water until all the ingredients are submerged. Cover the lid and boil it for 15-20 minutes.
4. Open the lid of the wok and skim off the foam from the surface. Add the fried black bean paste from the small skillet and stir it up. *tip: to check if ingredients are cooked or not, try a sample potato chunk. It should be cooked, not raw.
5. Mix 1 TBS potato starch powder (or corn starch) and 1 TBS water and add it into the boiling soup. Stir it until you have a sticky sauce. 

YOU MADE JJA JANG! GRATZ!

Now, let’s cook noodles (“myun”). For 2 servings, you’ll need one bunch of noodles from the package.

1. Boil water in a big pot, add the noodles and cover the lid. Cook for a few minutes, according to the direction on the package (probably around 3 minutes).
2. Try one sample noodle to check and see if it’s cooked properly or not. It should be soft and not stiff at all. If  it’s cooked, drain the noodles and place them on a large plate or bowl.
3. Reheat the jja jang sauce and put it on the noodles.

 

Serving: Don’t eat it cold : ) Garnish with cucumber strips on top of the jja jang sauce and serve it with Kimchi or yellow pickled radish.