Noodles with Black Bean Sauce - JaJahngMyeon

Made famous in Korea many decades ago by Chinese immigrants, JaJahngMyeon is Korea's version of spaghetti with tomato sauce.

The black beans that are used to make this sauce are actually fermented soy beans, which are quite healthy for the masses. But most manufacturers add a bit of caramel for colour, as well as salt or MSG for flavour, so if you are sensitive to any of these less-than-optimal ingredients, you may want to pass on this recipe. If you don't mind occasionally experiencing highly unique and mouthwatering dishes that are relatively healthy but won't be found at a raw food festival, JaJahngMyeon is definitely worth trying.

The only special ingredient that you need is black bean paste, which is readily available at Korean grocery stores and even at Amazon from a number of vendors here:

Korean black bean paste (fermented soy beans)

The quantities listed here make 6-8 generous servings of black bean sauce.

Ingredients:

Any noodles of your choice, or rice if you prefer
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 large or 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into small pieces (~ 1 cm cubes)
1/2 of a small to medium green cabbage, diced about the same as your onions
3 small to medium carrots, peeled and diced
If you would like to add meat, you can use 500 to 800 grams of ground turkey
1 cup frozen peas
Broth of your choice
6 heaping tablespoons Korean black bean paste (fermented soy beans)
Cooking oil

Directions:

1. If you are including meat in your black bean sauce, begin by cooking it in a large soup pot over medium heat with two tablespoons of cooking oil until about half browned.

2. Add chopped onions, cabbage, and carrots and cook for another five minutes over medium heat, stirring intermittently to allow everything to cook evenly.

3. Add cubed potatoes, then broth to just cover everything. As you bring the broth up to a boil, add 6 tablespoons of fermented black bean paste and stir well until evenly distributed. Once it reaches a boil, lower heat so that everything can simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the texture of the potatoes are to your liking.

4. Cook your noodles or rice, as well as your peas.

5. To serve, start with noodles or rice in your bowls, add a generous amount of black bean sauce (about how much spaghetti sauce you would add), then top with a tablespoon of green peas as a garnish.

6. Serve and enjoy JaJahngMyeon while it's hot!

Notes:

Please note that this recipe is highly versatile - you can add any vegetables that you enjoy. Sometimes, we add sliced oyster mushrooms and cubed sweet potatoes. Zucchini is also a nice addition. But please keep in mind that if you want to make enough to have leftovers for the next day, it may be best not to use softer ingredients like mushrooms and zucchini.

Yukon gold potatoes are a must for the the natural creaminess that they impart to the sauce. Plus, cooked potatoes are excellent for gut health.

Cabbage, onions, and carrots impart good natural sweetness to the sauce without overpowering it.

You can season everything as you go, or you can wait until the the sauce is done to consider adding some sea salt, as the black bean paste is concentrated and quite salty on its own.