Zha Jiang Mian

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These saucy noodles are chewy in texture with a seriously meaty sauce

Recipe Category: Asian

Makes enough for: people

Ingredients

for the noodles

300 g bread flour
3 g salt
160 mls water
corn flour for dusting
salt for the water

for the zha jiang mian

15 mls canola oil
480 g coarsely minced pork
8 cm fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
45 mls Shaoxing rice wine
95 mls black bean sauce
45 mls sweet bean sauce
400 mls chicken stock
3 star anise
15 mls dark soy sauce
1 pinch white pepper

Method

for the noodles

Place the flour and salt into a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook to combine
With the machine running on a low speed, slowly add the water until the dough comes together
Knead for 10 minutes, then cover the bowl with a damp towel
Set aside to rest for 30 minutes then divide the dough in half
Using a rolling pin, or pasta roller, roll out the dough to 2mm thick
Sprinkle generously with corn flour and with the short edge facing you, fold the dough lengthwise so it is 8cm wide
Continue folding all the way up, trim the edges and then cut 5mm strips along the width
Unravel the noodles, coat with corn flour and shake off the excess
Set aside while you do the second batch of dough
Once all the noodles are cut, set aside and bring a large pot of water to the boil

for the zha jiang mian

You can start making the sauce while the dough is resting
Place the oil into a large frying pan and heat over a medium to high temperature
Brown the pork and once browned, lower the temperature slightly and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
Once crispy, add the ginger, stir to combine and cook until you can smell the ginger
Pour in the rice wine, increase the temperature slightly, stir into the pork to deglaze the pan and continue cooking until the rice wine has disappeared
Add the bean sauces and stock and stir to combine
Add the star anise, soy and white pepper and stir to combine
Reduce the temperature and allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
(By now your noodles should be ready for rolling and cutting and the water should be boiled)
Add a generous amount of salt to the water, and leave the sauce simmering
Drop the noodles into the water and cook for 60 seconds
Drain, reserving some of the cooking water if needed to thin the sauce out, and add to the sauce
Take off the heat, toss to coat the noodles (adding some of the cooking water if necessary) and serve straight away

Notes

You can cook the noodles for 60 seconds in advance of making the sauce. Drain (reserving some of the cooking water to use if needed) and drop into ice cold water to stop the cooking process. When completely cold, drain again and set aside to use when needed.