Watch how to make it:
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What is black bean paste?
Actually known as chungjang, this paste is a Korean-style black bean paste made of fermented soy beans, as the name suggests. It is thick in texture and dark in color. It would be very beneficial to fry it in oil in order to extract some of the paste’s desired flavors. Here is the brand I use:
Types of Korean black bean noodles
When used alone, Jjajangmeyon (짜장면) simply means regular jajangmyeon, also called yetnal jajangmyeon (yetnal meaning from the past or old-fashioned). For this kind, the sauce is thickened with starch slurry and either water or stock. The resulting sauce is liquidy.
Ganjjajangmyeon (간짜장면): The meal is prepared without the use of water, stock, or sauce thickener. Because of this, each serving of the sauce has more solid ingredients and is dry.
Jjajangmyeon, or Samseon jjajangmyeon (킼선짜장면): Samseon literally translates to “fresh delicacies from three sources,” but in Korean-Chinese cuisine, it typically refers to a dish that contains a variety of seafoods. There’s usually samseon ganjjajangmyeon (삼선간짜장면) on the menu as well.
Euni jjajangmyeon (유니짜장면): Jajangmyeon made with ground meat.
Jjajang jaengban (쟁반짜장면): Noodles are stir-fried in sauce and presented on a sizable platter for sharing.
This is a standard jajangmyeon recipe, but I used less liquid. You can add more stock or water to your sauce to make it more saucy and liquidy.
Chunjang (춘장), a fermented black bean paste made in the Korean style with soybeans, fermented wheat flour, and caramel sauce, is used to make the sauce. Its use is pretty much limited to Korean-Chinese dishes. I am aware that some have questioned whether this dish can be made with Chinese black bean paste instead. If you want to make jajangmyeon, as Koreans enjoy, the answer is no.
Chunjang (된장, fermented soybean paste) is typically found next to doenjang (쐜장) in Korean markets. Certain brands have more salt, sourness, or sweetness than others.
Chunjang becomes a jajang sauce when it is fried in oil with meat and vegetables. The black bean paste must first be fried in oil. This procedure aids in removing the bean paste’s sour and bitter flavor. Some are offered pre-fried, so make sure to read the packaging instructions. But, it would never hurt to fry it again.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can try chunjang, which used to be fried in pork fat for flavoring in many restaurants.
Additionally, a small amount of sugar helps counterbalance the black bean paste’s sour, bitter, and salty flavors.
The traditional meat option is pork, but you can also use any type of chicken, beef, or seafood in its place. Of course, you can use lean meat, but the sauce will taste much better with some pork fat.
Instead of using meat in the vegan jajangmyeon recipe, try adding some fried tofu or mushrooms.
Jajangmyeon typically contains a large number of vegetables, including potatoes, onions, green cabbage, and zucchini. Particularly the onion and cabbage lend the jajang sauce a delightful sweetness. In this recipe, I didn’t use potatoes, but you can if you’d like. Carrots and green peas are also good options.
I added extra flavor to the sauce by using high-quality chicken stock in this jajangmyeon recipe. It really does seem to make a difference, but water is fine too.
Nothing compares to the perfectly thick and chewy hand-pulled noodles served in restaurants. Ready-made fresh noodles are best for home cooking; you can find them in the refrigerator section of Korean markets. There are also frozen and dried noodles. These noodles are usually labeled as jungwhamyeon (중화면) or jajangmyeon (우동 짜장면) in addition to udon.
- Add some seafood such as shrimp and squid. When the vegetables are almost done, you can add them to the pan.
- Add a small amount of gochugaru (red chili pepper flakes) or gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste) if you enjoy a spicy kick.
- As a welcome departure from the typical dish with noodles, serve the jajang sauce over cooked rice. In this case, the dish is called jajangbap (짜장밥).
