How to Make Chinese Noodles with Soybean Paste

I learned one dish recently, Chinese noodles with soybean paste, also called Zha Jiang Mian, which is very popular when it comes to traditional Beijing cuisine. As an added bonus, it is not expensive at all.

Zha Jiang Mian is consists of three main materials. They are wide hand-tossed noodles, vegetable pieces as well as pork. Local Beijing people, especially elder ones like to eat hot noodles in the cold days and to eat cold noodles in hot weather.

Though the cooking method and the favor is varied due to the different area, the general materials and steps are same. Here I introduce the common way to make noodles with soybean paste.

Preparation:

Chinese Noodles with Soybean Paste materials

Ingredients: oil, salt, onion, ginger, garlic, cucumber (or other vegetable), water, sweet soybean paste, noodle, tomato and meat

Cut onion, ginger and garlic into chip
Cut cucumber into fine strips. Other vegetable can be used, too, such as cabbage, bean sprout. Sure, you can put them together if you like.
Cut the mean into chip.
Cut the tomato into small lump
Making sauce:

Put oil into the pan and heat the oil. Add onion, ginger and garlic and toss quickly for 1 minute
Add the tomato and stir fry for about 3 minutes till the tamoto becomes sauce
Add the meat and tir fry with the sauce for about 3mins
Add sweet soybean paste and tir fry
Add a little water to make sauce
Optional: Add a little MSG to make the sause more delicious. Taste the sauce and add some salt if the favor is light.
Cooking noodle:

put water into the pan to heat.you’d better add more water
Put noodle into the water once the water is boiling. Heat about 2-3 mins.
Take out the noodle from water to plate. Pour the sauce. Add the cucumber (or other vegetable) to mix. If you want to eat cold noodle, you just pour the cold boiled water on the noodle before you mix the sauce and vegetable.