{"id":4145,"date":"2022-12-11T16:18:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T00:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kimchimari.com\/?p=4145"},"modified":"2022-12-11T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T00:18:09","slug":"jjajang-myeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimchimari.com\/jjajang-myeon\/","title":{"rendered":"Jajangmyeon (Black Bean Sauce Noodles)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jajangmyeon is a very popular noodle dish in Korea that is made with Chinese black bean paste (Chunjang), meat and veggies. A great one-dish meal any time or any day of the week!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Noodles in Black Bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is Jajangmyeon?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jajangmyeon (\uc9dc\uc7a5\uba74) or Jjajangmyeon is a Chinese Korean noodle dish that is topped with a thick savory black bean sauce with meat and\/or seafood and vegetables. This dish is very popular among Koreans, especially children because it’s not spicy but delicious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The noodles for this dish was traditionally hand-pulled and thus called Suta Jajangmyeon \uc218\ud0c0 \uc9dc\uc7a5\uba74. Hand-pulled means that you pull and stretch the dough and fold and repeat until you get hundreds of thin strands of the dough. Unfortunately, the fresh hand-pulled noodles are very hard to find anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been making this dish at home since 91′ after I got married (over 20 years?!) at the request of my husband. My recipe has evolved quite a bit over the years and I have to say I’m quite happy with this one. When I gave it to my daughter for tasting, she happily chanted “Your Jajangmyeon tastes better than the one at the restaurant we visited!”. And if you are allergic to MSG, my version does NOT need any so you are good there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of Jajangmyeon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to one story was introduced in 1905 by a Chinese chef at Gonghwachun<\/i>\u00a0(\uacf5\ud654\ucd98<\/span>;\u00a0\u5171\u548c\u6625<\/span>), a Chinese restaurant in\u00a0Incheon Chinatown<\/a> settled by early Chinese immigrants from the Shandong Province\u00a0of\u00a0China.\u00a0Since then, it has fully become part of the Korean culture, invoking all sorts of memories for many Koreans young and old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other story says that no one knows for certain who introduced it first but the dish came about because the Chinese immigrants who worked at the Incheon pier in the 1890’s needed something quick and cheap to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, I visited Incheon and also visited the Jajangmyeon museum and here are some pictures that I took.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pictures of Incheon Chinatown including Jajangmyeon Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

From top left to right<\/strong>: picture of Incheon Chinatown and tourists; the chef + delivery man sculpture in front of the museum; the inside of the most famous  Jajangmyeon restaurant (feels like I was in a Chinese martial arts movie); antique steel carrier used for delivering Chinese food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So… also did you ever notice? In almost every Korean drama, you will see characters devour this black sauce noodle dish-ending with black sauce all around their mouths. And they are always delivered in a version of the steel carrier above which is now sometimes a plastic box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s even a saying among Koreans about how a move to a new home is not complete unless you order Jajangmyeon at the end of a long moving day. For every Korean neighborhood, there’s always a Chinese restaurant nearby and delivery is a must. A few days ago, in one of my TV favorite show – “Dad, where are you going?<\/strong>“(\uc544\ube60 \uc5b4\ub514\uac00? Appa Uh-diga?)- I watched this yummy black noodles being delivered to a rice field!!? Whaat??? Even the dads were surprised to see the food when it came. Now, I call that service!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think in many ways, this noodle dish is equivalent to America’s Pizza. If you are up late working in the office or if you have friends over but not sure what to eat, then Koreans order this ultimate comforting dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do you eat Jajangmyeon on Black Day 4\/14th?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So you know about 2\/14 being Valentine’s Day. In Korea, there’s an additional day called White Day on 3\/14th. So Valentine’s day is when Korean girls buy gifts for boys they like. White Day is for the boys to buy girls gifts. Well.. then what about singles?? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Korean singles decided to make 4\/14th Black Day!! And on this Black day, singles get together wearing black and eating something black. And Jajangmyeon is the most popular black food to eat this day. I think it also has to do with the fact that you can’t help get your face all messy eating this black noodle dish and if you are a single, what do you care?? LOL.. at least that’s my take on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Black Bean Sauce Noodles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n