Korean Food 101 – Jajangmyeun

Jajangmyeun

Jajangmyeon is a noodle dish that is topped with a thick salty black soy bean sauce.

The literal translation of this dish is deep fried sauce on noodles.  

Introduced to Koreans by Chinese merchants back in the early 20th century, this comfort dish has found some unusual traditions connected to it over the years.  

Korean Black Day, a name given for the 14th of April is an unofficial holiday for those who didn’t receive a gift on Valentine’s Day or White day.  White Day, for those who don’t know is typically observed by women who present gifts to their special guy who gave them a gift on Valentine’s Day.

So if you have bad luck with love, you can wallow with your fellow single friends over a delicious bowl of Jajangmyeon.  

Although this delicious bowl of noodle goodness has Chinese roots, Koreans have really made it its own.  Instead of yellow soybean paste, Koreans make theirs with a dark soybean paste with caramel to sweeten the flavour.

Other traditional ingredients often include ground meat, diced onions and cornstarch to thicken the sauce.  As a nice garnish, you will often see this dish served with sliced raw cucumbers placed on top.

One thing you can’t forget with this traditional meal is to have it all complimented with pickled dichon radish.

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