Simple Noodles for a Simple Lunch

April 5, 2007 at 6:43 pm · Filed under Recipes: Pork, Recipes: Noodles

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面), a northen chinese dish, is a bowl of flat white noodles with a warm, thick and sweet minced meat sauce over it. It’s so simple to prepare, perfect for a busy afternoon. I like it with oodles of cucumber shreds for the nice crunchy feel. Some people like to add carrots shreds too. So it’s entirely up to your own taste buds. For the extra punch, mix the minced meat sauce with some chilli paste or chilli flakes. I love it with my mum’s chilli paste.

The recipe below are from Chng Kee. Peking Dip Sauce, 甜面酱 are easily found at the sauces section in supermarkets. Yes, it’s the same sauce that restaurants use for Peking Duck Skin, wrapped in crepes. I use Shanghai Handmade noodles which can be found at the noodles section. B eats them with instant noodles.

We were doing our marketing at a chicken stall and the stall owner gave us a very useful tip when thawing meat. Usually you will buy a whole chicken at the market and get the uncle to chop into pieces for you. For the 2 of us, we can’t finish the whole chicken at one go. So we separate them into a few bags before freezing them. Try to pack the chicken pieces into a single layer instead of a whole big lump, reason being, they will thaw alot faster. And this freezes the meat faster too, thus more fresh. We did the same for the minced pork. It’s really a breeze to thaw them.

Sweet Minced Meat Noodles, 炸酱面
2 tsp garlic/shallots, chopped
½ cucumber, shredded
200g minced pork
1¾ tbsp of Peking Dip Sauce, 甜面酱
½ tbsp oil
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
190g flat white noodles
30ml water (optional)

1. Cook noodles in a pot of water. Drain and leave them aside.
2. Remove core and seeds from the cucumber. Cut into thin strips.
3. Heat wok, add the oil.
4. Add garlic/shallots and stir fry until slightly brown.
5. Add the minced pork and stir fry till the pork is cooked.
6. Add Peking Dip Sauce, light and dark soya sauce.
7. Add water and simmer if you prefer more sauce.
8. Serve this meat sauce over noodles.

Serves 2. Happy Lunch!

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