La recette de zha jiang mian de Handa Cheng (Chifan)
“Zha jiang mian, literally “fried noodles with sauce”, are typical of Beijing. Unsurprisingly, the most important thing here is the sauce, simmered with several fermented soybean pastes. It navigates between salty, sweet and a triple dose of umami – unique!”
Ingredients
- Chinese noodles of your choice
- 500g of pork belly
- 200g of sweetened fermented soybean paste
- 200g of salted fermented soybean paste
- 120 g of shallot
- 40 g de sucre
- 10 g of ginger
- 2 badianes
- 1 stalk of chives
- 10 cl of Shaoxing wine or sake
- 2 tablespoons of neutral vegetable oil
- Crunchy toppings such as cucumbers, carrots, radishes, and bean sprouts
- Fresh herbs such as chives and coriander
Method
- Mix the fermented soybean paste and Shaoxing wine. Set aside. Thinly slice the shallot, finely chop the ginger, and cut the scallions into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces. Cut the meat into small cubes (1/2 cm for the lean meat, 1 cm for the fat) and fry the fat in a large pan over low heat with vegetable oil until golden brown. Remove from the pan. In the same pan, still over low heat, sauté the shallot and scallions for 3 minutes, then fry the ginger for about 15 seconds. Add the fermented soybean paste and wine mixture, the pork (lean and fatty, already fried), the sugar, and the star anise, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, uncovered (stirring occasionally). The sauce is ready! Prepare the toppings: julienne the carrots and cucumber, and thinly slice the radishes. In each bowl, add the noodles, a tablespoon of sauce, the vegetables and fresh herbs. Mix everything together, and that's it!
- It's best to use Chinese noodles, but any other type of pasta will work just as well: udon, Italian varieties, etc. The sauce can easily be kept for a month in the refrigerator in a sterilized, sealed jar, even with the meat. It can also be served over white rice or with a plain bao bun. The recipe is usually made with pork, but it's always possible to make a vegetarian version, for example, with shiitake mushrooms and firm tofu.
