Noodles with Minced Pork
Chinese name: 炸酱面 (zhá jiàng miàn)Characteristics: The minced pork in this dish smells fragrant, while the noodles are nicely chewy. The addition of healthy green vegetables really makes your mouth water.
Noodles with Minced Pork, also being called Zha Jiang Mian by Chinese people, was originally a local specialty of Beijing. Later, it spread throughout China and evolved into many regional varieties. However, the main ingredients still remain as the recipe shows: hand-made noodles, minced pork sauce or bean sauce and fitting vegetables like green vegetables and bean sprouts.
Ingredients:
100g minced pork; 50g green vegetables; 150g hand-made noodles or 100g dried noodles
Note: The amount of the ingredient listed above only serves one person.
Seasonings:
chopped ginger
chopped green onion
salty bean sauce
salt
cooking wine
cooking oil
chicken essence (stock/bouillon) or monosodium glutamate
wet corn starch (the proportion of corn starch and water is ususally 1:2)
soy sauce
Note: the amount of the seasonings listed above can be appropriately used according to one's personal taste.
Methods:
| STEP 1 Heat the wok over high heat until hot. Add some cooking oil, swirling to coat sides. Add in half the chopped ginger and green onion. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add in the minced pork, cooking wine and salty bean sauce. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the meat turns brown. |
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| STEP 2 Add in 1/4 bowl of water. Boil it for 2-3 minutes over high heat. Add in the remaining ginger and green onion, soy sauce, salt, chicken essence and wet cornstarch. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Turn off the heat. Spoon the sauce into a bowl. |
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| STEP 3 Clean the wok. Place on high heat again and add 3-4 bowls of water. When the water boils, put the noodles in the wok. When the water again comes to a boil, add half a bowl of water. Boil it for 2-3 minutes when it boils again. Add in the green vegetables, when it boils once more. Boil it for about 10 seconds. Turn off the heat, and remove the noodles from the wok and place into a bowl. Pick the green vegetables out and place on the noodles. |
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| STEP 4 Ladle the minced pork sauce prepared in step 2 out of the bowl and pour it over the noodles (Don’t cover the green vegetables completely in order to make it more attractive). |
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| A bowl of redolent Noodles with Minced Pork has been prepared, with enticing color and rich nutrition. |
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Our Guests Learn to Make Dumplings
On July 2, 2013, Mr. Matthew, Ms. Julie, Mr. Te, Mr. Ching, Ms. Emily, Mr. Christopher and Mr. Charles from the US took part in Chinese cooking class at a local family in Xi'an selected by our company. They learnt to make dumplings and cooked Noodles with Minced Pork. Having a general understanding of Chinese foods, they found out that home made dishes were healthier and could be in different flavor according to personal taste. -
Our Guests in a Chinese Family
On Sep. 17, 2012, Mr. Wilfred & Ms. Marthanne from USA had a wonderful time in a typical family in Xi'an through a free-talk and a cooking class with the host. Being curious about the various Chinese pastas, they chose to learn to cook a local specialty of Beijing - Noodles with Minced Pork. They said in their feedback:”… We would also recommend the lunch at the home Xi'an. Not only was the food excellent but we were able to see where and how a middle class Chinese family lives and what they would eat. We now have a few recipes that we will be able to cook ourselves…."See details at Mr. Randy's feedback -
Ms. Deborah in a Chinese Family
On Feb. 18, 2011, Ms. Deborah from Australia made a special family tour to a local family in Xi'an under the arrangement by TravelChinaGuide. Besides family visit, she also took part in our cooking class to learn to cook Noodles with Minced Pork & soup dumplings in the family from the hostess.
Further Reading: 10 Most Popular and Tasty Chinese Noodles RecipesMore Staple Food and Snacks in China:
Stir-fried
Shaanxi Pasta
Pan Fried
Dumplings
Noodles with
Tomato Egg Sauce
Green Onion
Pancake
Chow
Mein