Chewy noodles served with an irresistible pork sauce and crunchy vegetable toppings, Zha Jiang Mian is a signature Beijing dish that’s perfect for weekday dinners.

a bowl of Zha Jiang Mian, noodles with brown pork sauce and vegetable toppings.

Note: This recipe was originally published in May 2017. This revised version includes minor recipe alteration, process photos, and a video tutorial.

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What is Zha Jiang Mian
Ingredients & substitutes
Cooking procedure
Make-ahead
Other popular noodles
📋 Recipe card

What is Zha Jiang Mian

I worked in Beijing for quite a few years before living abroad, and I consider it as my second home. In this mega-city, with amazing food from every corner of China on offer, traditional Beijing cuisine is always treasured by locals and migrants alike. Apart from the famous Peking duck, I adore its signature dish, Zhá Jiàng Miàn/炸酱面, the noodle dish I cook the most often for my family.

The literal meaning of Zhá Jiàng Miàn is “fried sauce noodles”. It consists of three components: pork cubes braised in a savory, aromatic sauce; thick noodles; and a variety of crunchy vegetables.

Like many iconic Chinese noodle dishes, such as Dan Dan Noodles, Chongqing Noodles, and Beef Chow Fun, it makes a wonderful weekday dinner. What I love about this iconic dish is its flexibility:

The meat sauce can be made in big batches for later use, making it so convenient!
You’re free to improvise with whatever noodles and vegetables you have on hand.

Ingredients & substitutes

Meat options

For an authentic taste, I suggest you choose pork belly or other cuts that have a high-fat content. Cut it into small cubes for quick cooking and a nice bite.

Use ground pork to substitute if you wish to save time on chopping.
Want to use other meat? Replace pork with beef, chicken, or lamb.
To make it vegan, use dried tofu (豆腐干) or shiitake mushrooms instead.

Condiments & aromatics

These are the ingredients that lend flavor to the meat sauce:

Yellow bean paste
Sweet flour sauce
Shaoxing rice wine
Star anise
Scallions
Ginger

About yellow bean paste

Yellow bean paste (Huáng Dòu Jiàng/黄豆酱), a popular condiment in northern Chinese cuisine, is a dark brown, thick, slightly lumpy sauce made of fermented soybeans, wheat, salt and water. The variation of its names include 黄酱, 大豆酱, 干黄酱 (the extra-dry version) in Chinese and yellow soybean paste, soybean sauce in English.

🌟 To substitute, I often use Sichuan chili bean paste (aka doubanjiang) for an extra hot taste.

About sweet flour sauce

Sweet flour sauce (Tián Miàn Jiàng/甜面酱) is made of fermented wheat flour and it has a darker, runnier, and smoother texture than yellow bean paste. As its name suggests, it has a noticeable sweet taste which nicely balances the saltiness.

🌟 To substitute, you may use hoisin sauce. Alternatively, use yellow bean paste solely and add a little sugar.

Noodle choices

Traditionally, Beijing cooks use hand-cut noodles (手擀面) for Zha Jiang Mian. A piece of firm dough (made of flour, water, and a little salt) is rolled flat with a rolling pin and then cut into long, thick noodles.

Other types of noodles work well too:

Shop-bought dried noodles are a time-saving alternative.
Hand-pulled noodles are the type I use the most often as they have a similar texture to hand-cut noodles.
Fresh ramen noodles made with a pasta machine are also a great option.

Veggie toppings

radish, cucumber, edamame and bean sprouts.

Vegetables play an important role in Zha Jiang Mian. They are used either raw or quickly blanched, preserving most of their nutrition. The natural taste of vegetables goes very well with the salty sauce, giving this dish an excellent balance.

As shown in the pictures, I chose to use cucumber, beansprouts, red radishes, and edamame (aka fresh soybeans). Many other vegetables work well too, such as Napa cabbage, carrot, celery, kohlrabi, etc.

Cooking procedure

Step 1: Cook the sauce

sizzling scallions, ginger and star anise.

Heat a little cooking oil in a wok or a large skillet. Sizzle the green part of the scallions, minced ginger, and star anise until fragrant.

Stir in the pork cubes and fry until they lose their pink color (If using ground meat, use a spatula to loosen any lumps).

Pour in Shaoxing rice wine, then add yellow bean paste and sweet flour sauce.

Toss well and top with a little water.

Once the sauce comes to a gentle boil, cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes (or 15 minutes if using ground meat).

Uncover and turn up the heat. Let the sauce boil briefly to thicken the consistency. Then stir in the remaining scallions to finish.

Step 2: Prepare the vegetables

First, blanch edamame beans in boiling water for about 1 minute if chilled, or 2 minutes if frozen. Then, add bean sprouts and blanch them for no longer than 20 seconds to remove their rawness but retain the crunchy texture.

julienned cucumber and sliced red radish.

Cut the cucumber into matchsticks and thinly slice the red radishes.

Step 3: Boil the noodles

Use the same water in which the vegetables are blanched. Add more if necessary and bring it to a full boil over high heat. Put in the noodles. Once it comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low (be attentive to avoid boiling over).

Simmer until the noodles are just cooked. The time required depends on the noodle type. Taste a strand if unsure.

Optional step: Rinse the cooked noodles for a few seconds under running water. This is to remove any surface starch and achieve a silky mouthfeel.

Step 4: Assemble the dish

Once you’ve got all the elements ready, simply assemble them in serving bowls. Alternatives, only add the noodles to each bowl and let the diners decide how much the meat sauce and which veggie toppings to use.

Don’t forget to give everything a thorough toss before tucking in!

Make-ahead

As I mentioned earlier, I make Zha Jiang Mian regularly. But I don’t cook the saucy meat topping every time. Usually, I make it in a big batch and freeze any leftovers for later. Here are my make-ahead tips:

Increase the ingredient quantity proportionally and follow the same procedure to make the sauce.
Once completely cool, divide the sauce into small portions and refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for 3 months.
Defrost in the fridge then reheat before serving.

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