zha jiang mian (炸酱面)

Here’s an authentic recipe for you. It was handed down from my Shandong Grandmother who grew up in Beijing. She was a wonderful cook who taught my Mother everything she knows about Chinese food and I learned from the both of them. Thank you Grandma and Mom ♥!

For these fresh thick noodles, you can find them at Jiashan Market (328 Jianguo lu near Taiyuan lu. 嘉善菜场, 建国西路328号近太原路.) If you’re looking at 2 noodle stalls, it’s the one on the right. Pick the thickest noodles she has on display. They have the toothsomeness (al dente) you’ll want for this dish. Happy Cooking!

1 1/2 pound pork, coarsely grounded
1 cup canola oil
1 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
2 scallions, julienned
1 small bunch young pea shoots or bean sprouts
1 package soybean paste (Green Food brand 葱伴侣豆瓣酱 150g)
1 package sweet bean paste (Green Food brand 葱伴侣甜面酱 150g) *Please note, the package says “Hoisin Sauce”, but it’s not. It’s sweet bean paste. Sweet bean paste is a condiment used in northern China such as for Peking duck, pancakes and noodle dishes. Hoisin is Cantonese for seafood. Both are sweet, black in color but has two very different flavors.
1 piece 2″ ginger, minced
1 bunch scallions, minced
2 red chilies, minced
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons rock sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 cups water
1 bunch hand spun thick noodles (Northern style)

Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add canola oil, ginger, scallions, chilies and saute until fragrant.

Add the ground pork, stir fry until cooked through. Deglaze with rice wine then add the soybean paste and sweet bean paste. Turn heat down to a simmer and stir to combine. Make sure the ingredients are fry-boiling with small bubbles. “Zha jiang” in Chinese, means fry the sauce. The sauce is meant to be fried to bring out the fragrance of the bean pastes, about 15 minutes. It looks like a lot of oil, but you need it to “fry” the sauce. Stir occasionally and cover.

Add the tomatoes, rock sugar and water. Simmer until tomatoes are completely dissipated.

Boil the noodles until al dente, strain and place in a large bowl. In the same boiling water, add a pinch of salt and flash boil the pea shoots or bean sprouts, about 5 seconds. Strain the vegetable.

Top the fresh cooked noodles with the zha jiang sauce, pea shoots, julienned carrots, cucumbers and scallions. Mix and serve immediately.

taiwanese red roasted beef noodle soup (台灣川味红燒牛肉麵)

This rich soup is flavorful and hearty. Our version of this Taiwanese red roasted (or braised) beef noodle soup is made of stewed beef shanks, aromatics, beef broth, vegetables and noodles. When meat is braised with soy sauce, Chinese call hong shao, or red roasted. What makes a good niu rou mian (beef noodle soup) are the tender meat with a good balance of fat and tendon, flavorful broth and the “Q” texture (toothsome) of the noodles. For variations, sometimes we will char 2 onions and simmer them in the broth for a darker, sweeter flavor or season the broth with Taiwanese shacha sauce 牛頭牌沙茶酱. This is optional, wrap 1 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns in cheese cloth and add to the broth. Jesse’s not a big fan of Sichuan peppercorns, but I like them and they give an extra savory kick, 鲜度 to the soup.

We love Taiwanese brand soy sauce and bean pastes, which can be purchased at Taiwanese grocery stores and Carrefour in Gubei. Noodles are available and made fresh daily at any local market. Here’s our favorite wet market in the French Concession: Jiashan Market at 328 Jianguo lu near Taiyuan lu (嘉善菜场, 建国西路328号近太原路). Happy Cooking!

2 pounds Australian or Shandong premium beef shank
8 scallions, plus 2 more finely chopped
1 small bunch Chinese greens (青菜，小白菜或青江菜）
2 packages fresh thick noodles (家常粗麵條）
4 ginger, 1″ thick slices
5 cloves garlic
3 red chilies
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, 4″ long
1 licorice root stick, 3″ long
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 large white turnip, roughly chopped
1 piece rock sugar, about 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup good aged rice wine
1 cup  Taiwanese soy sauce (台灣金蘭醬油）
2 tablespoons fermented bean paste (台灣岡山豆瓣醬）
1 tablespoon spicy fermented bean paste (台灣岡山辣豆瓣醬）
6 cups water

Wash the Chinese greens, finely chop 2 scallions and set aside.

In a large pot, boil beef shanks for about 7 minutes, pour shanks through a strainer and discard the water. Wash shanks thoroughly.

In the same large pot, heat oil over high heat, brown the aromatics: ginger pieces, scallions, whole garlic cloves, red chilies, star anise, cinnamon stick and licorice, about 5 minutes. Then add in bean pastes and saute until your kitchen is filled with the aroma, about 3 minutes.

Deglaze the pot with rice wine and soy sauce. Add the beef shanks, carrot, tomatoes, turnip, rock sugar and water. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Spoon out the beef shanks and let cool. Slice, against the grain, to 1.5″ thick slices. Put the shanks back into the broth and simmer for another 45 minutes to an hour or until meat is tender but not falling apart. Strain the broth, discard ginger pieces, garlic, tomato skins, carrot and turnip.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the fresh noodles until al dente. In the same pot, blanch Chinese greens for about 10 seconds and strain.

In a deep soup bowl, place cooked noodles on the bottom, ladle in beef broth, beef stock (if you want to go through the trouble: char beef bones and aromatics, slowly simmer for hours to yield an intense beef stock) and beef slices. Top with Chinese greens, chopped scallions and serve immediately.