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Jajangmyeon is one of Korea’s most beloved takeout foods. It’s a black bean noodle dish that has a rich, umami flavor with a slight sweetness, making it very popular with children!
Every time I have a bowl of jajangmyeon, I am instantly taken back to Korea. This is a dish that is extremely nostalgic for me because of all the wonderful memories I have about having it delivered right to our door. The delivery person always traveled by motor bike with large metal containers in tow, delivering jajangmyeon and also picking up the dirty dishes later in the day.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s Restaurant Quality– Many of my readers have said that making jajangmyeon at home never tastes as good as the restaurants. When I first started making it at home, I felt the same way. With lots of recipe testing, I can confidently say this one is restaurant quality!
- Popular With Children- Kids love noodles, and the sauce in this dish is umami-packed. The sweetness in the sauce can be particularly appealing to children, and it is considered a very comforting choice for them in Korea!
- Perfect for Meal Prep: Makes for a great make-ahead meal that keeps well in the fridge, or freezer! All you need to do is boil your noodles at mealtime.
- Customizable: Easy to adjust ingredients (like adding more veggies or protein) to suit different tastes. If you don’t eat pork, no problem! You can use beef or chicken.
Ingredients
- Black bean paste – The Jinmi brand is widely used in Korea. Some brands will say their paste is already pre-fried and ready, but I’ve found that this really isn’t the case. No matter what kind you get, don’t skip the frying process for the paste, or it will be bitter.
- Veggies- Potatoes, cabbage, onions, and zucchini. You can use whatever you like! Other common veggies are mushrooms, carrots, and Korean radish.
- Real beef broth- this is my secret to delicious restaurant quality jjajangmyeon. A lot of recipes call for chicken broth but I think beef broth tastes much better.
- Slurry– use any type of starch to make a slurry for thickening the sauce at the end. How much you use depends on the consistency you like for your sauce. I like a thinner sauce, so I don’t use that much.
- Seasoning- not too many additional seasonings except black pepper, and ginger powder. I also add a tiny bit of msg and sesame oil at the end, but these are optional.
- Jajang noodles- I really like the Wang brand for jajang noodles. They are called Joong-hwa-myeon (중화면). These have a slight yellow color to them which makes me think they are a mixture of egg/wheat noodles. I like noodles that are nice and chewy!
- Pork belly- you can use chicken or beef instead, but I think the best jajangmyeon is made with pork belly.
Pro Tip
Score your pork belly! This helps the dish in numerous ways, especially if the quality of your pork belly is lacking. Scoring allows the fat to be rendered out evenly, develop more flavor, and become more tender.
Must-have sides for Jajangmyeon
Danmuji (yellow pickled radish) is absolutely mandatory when eating jajangmyeon! It compliments the dish so well. Jajangmyeon can be very rich and somewhat heavy, so the danmuji really brightens it up while also adding texture.
Another side/topping that I think is very important is sliced cucumber. It is another element that adds texture and brightens up the dish. I like A LOT of cucumber in my jajangmyeon- enough for every bite.
Variations
If you don’t have noodles or don’t feel like having noodles, try the sauce over some perfectly steamed white rice! Known as jajang-bap, this is another common way to enjoy the sauce. My dad actually prefers jajang-bap and asks for it all the time.
For this, I think kimchi pairs much better than danmuji. Lately I’ve been enjoying jajang-bap with the yu choy kimchi I made with my mom a few weeks ago. It’s so good!
Tips for making restaurant quality jajangmyeon
Fry the black bean sauce well! This is the #1 mistake I see people make when preparing jajangmyeon. The black bean paste has to be fried in a generous amount of oil to really bring out the flavors and get rid of the bitter taste.
Score your pork belly– As mentioned earlier, this allows the fat to render out evenly, develop more flavor, and make the pork more tender. You want a good amount of oil (fat) to render out so that we can cook our veggies in it.
Use beef broth- Chicken broth is fine too, but beef broth added the flavor I was missing before.
Add msg- Monosodium glutamate gets a bad rap, but we all know that restaurants use msg to make their food more delicious. Did you know that msg is no worse for you than table salt? A little goes a long way, and in moderation it is perfectly safe to consume. You can read what science says about the safety of msg to confirm this.
Cook the noodles for less time than the package instructions- I’m not sure why but I found that the package instructions always tell you to boil the noodles for way too long. I boiled mine for about 3 1/2 minutes and immediately rinsed them under cold water to stop the cooking process and remove starch.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most common question I get about jajangmyeon is what kind of noodles I use! For some reason, it is difficult to find it online by searching for the name brand (there are two different Wang brand noodles). I have included a picture in this blog post above for your reference! These are available at Hmart and AR Mart.
The flavor of jajangmyeon is difficult to describe, because there isn’t anything that tastes like it. It has a rich, umami flavor with a slight sweetness and a hint of bitterness from the black bean paste. The overall flavor is hearty and comforting!
To pronounce jajangmyeon:
Ja: Pronounced like “jjah”. This is kind of hard to explain, but take the sound at the end of the word “stitch”. The way the “tch” sounds at the end, is how you should pronounce the beginning of “jjah”.
Jang: Pronounced like “jahng”
Myeon: Pronounced “myun”
So it’s “jjah-jahng-myun“
Jajangmyeon is a Korean-Chinese dish. It was first introduced in Korea by Chinese immigrants, and evolved over time to suit Korean palates.
more korean noodle recipes
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Jajangmyeon 짜장면- Korean Black Bean Noodles
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb pork belly, scored and thinly sliced
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 cup yukon gold potato
- 1/2 cup zucchini
- 1 cup cabbage
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1/2 cup chunjang (black bean paste)
- 1 to 3 tbsp sugar, see notes on this below
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1/4 tsp msg, optional
- 2 to 3 servings jajangmyeon noodles, cooked to package instructions, but reduce time by 1-2 minutes.
Slurry
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp water
Garnish
- sesame oil
- sesame seeds
- sliced cucumber
Instructions
- Prepare your veggies by cutting them down into 1/2 inch squares.
- Score your pork belly then cut them into 1 inch slices. Let them come to room temperature before cooking.
- Bring a non-stick pan to medium heat and cook the pork belly until both sides are lightly browned. There should be a good amount of oil rendered out- leave it.
- Add the onions and potatoes. Sauté until onions become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the zucchini and cabbage. Sauté another 2-3 minutes.
- Make a hole in the center and add 3 tbsp oil. Put the black bean paste on top of the oil and spread evenly. Tilt the pan back and forth to bring more oil to the center, and continue frying the paste in it for about 3 minutes.
- Mix everything together and continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes, then add the ginger, black pepper, and sugar.Note: If you don't like it too sweet, start with 1 tbsp sugar and gradually add more if needed. I added 3 tbsp to mine- my husband likes it sweet.
- Add the beef broth and mix until combined. At this point, add the msg if you're using it.
- Add the corn starch slurry and continue mixing until the sauce has almost thickened to your desired consistency. I recommend getting it to a point where it is slightly too thin for your liking- it will thicken even more once you turn off the heat.
- Ladle the sauce over jajang noodles or rice. Drizzle over a tiny bit of sesame oil, then garnish with thinly sliced cucumber and sesame seeds. Serve with danmuji (yellow pickled radish).
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First experience with jjajangmyeon and made it for my Korean roommate’s parents thanks to Stella’s amazing recipe. The thorough explanations and tips for each step practically guarantees success.