Today, we’re making Jjajangmyeon, but not just a regular Jjajangmyeon. We will be making a bigger and fancier version called Jaengban Jjajang. If this is something you haven’t tried before, you should give it a try. You won’t regret it.

JJAJANGMYEON (2 servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (250g) black bean paste (chunjang, 춘장)
1 tsp (4g) ginger
1 large yellow onion
1 bunch green onions (3.5 oz, 100g)
Handful of garlic chives (1 oz, 30g)
6 button mushrooms
1/3 cucumber
4.2 oz (120g) pork belly or shoulder (or beef, chicken)
Frozen seafood mixture (shrimp 80g / squid 80g)
2 servings jjajangmyeon noodles (중화면) (or kalguksu, udon noodles, etc.)

Jjajang Sauce:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp lard (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
1/2 tsp MSG (optional)
1.5 tbsp fried black bean paste
1/2 cup (120ml) water
Slurry (1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water)
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Instructions:

FRY BLACK BEAN PASTE

1. In a cold nonstick pan (or wok), add the oil and black bean paste. Place it over medium heat and fry for 2 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring it.

2. Once you can see the bubbles in the middle, give it about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn the heat off. Set aside.

PREP FRESH INGREDIENTS

1. Finely mince the ginger (1 tsp). Roughly chop the onion. Thinly slice the green onions. Cut the garlic chives into long strips. Cut the button mushrooms into quarters. Thinly slice the cucumber for garnish.

2. Cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces.

3. Blanch the seafood and drain.

MAKE JJAJANGMYEON

1. Add the cooking oil (2 tbsp) to a wok. (You can reuse the one that you fried black bean paste with.)

2. Add the lard (if using) and heat it over medium heat. Once it’s nice and hot, add the pork and render out the fat for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. When the pork is nicely browned, add the ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce and give it a good stir for another 1 minute. Be careful! The oil might splatter.

4. Increase the heat to high. Add the onion and green onions. Stir-fry it for 2 minutes or until they’re slightly softened.

5. Add the blanched seafood, mushrooms, sugar, oyster sauce, chicken bouillon powder, and MSG (if using). Stir-fry it for another 2 minutes.

6. Add the fried black bean paste and stir it all together for 2 minutes or until everything is well coated. Reduce the heat to medium, add the water and bring it to a boil.

7. Once it comes to a boil, carefully add the cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water) and stir. Cover and keep it warm until the noodles are ready.

8. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions.

9. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat and add the drained noodles. Quickly toss it around for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the heat off. Add the garlic chives and drizzle with the sesame oil. Give it a final mix.

10. Transfer to a large platter. Garnish with cucumber. Enjoy~!

NOTES:

Since I want to make this a little fancier, I used a lot of stuff, but as long as you have pork, black bean paste, onion, and green onion, you can still make it. But if you skip one or two ingredients, I do recommend throwing in some more vegetables because the sauce can be a little bit too salty without them.
The fried black bean paste can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, so try to make a lot of different things with it such as Jjajangbap (Egg Fried Rice & Jjajang Sauce) or Jjajang Tteokbokki. Everything will be fantastic!

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