Korean Noodles With Black Bean Sauce Recipe

By
Naomi Imatome-Yun
Naomi Imatome-Yun
Asian food expert Naomi Imatome-Yun is a freelance writer and the author of four Asian food cookbooks.
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Updated on 01/14/23
Korean noodles with black bean sauce

​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 35 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
700 Calories
11g Fat
118g Carbs
33g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 700
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g 14%
Saturated Fat 3g 13%
Cholesterol 45mg 15%
Sodium 191mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 118g 43%
Dietary Fiber 10g 34%
Total Sugars 32g
Protein 33g
Vitamin C 15mg 75%
Calcium 90mg 7%
Iron 5mg 26%
Potassium 1080mg 23%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Jajangmyun (Chajangmyun, Jjajang myun) is one of the most popular noodle dishes in Korea, even though it actually originated in China, not Korea. It is the Korean adaptation of a Chinese black bean noodle dish with the same name, and you can find it in many restaurants in Korea.

Jajangmyun differs from its Chinese counterpart, zhajiangmian, by virtue of its sauce. In China, the sauce for zhajiangmian is made with yellow soybean paste, hoisin sauce or a sauce made from broad beans. However, the Korean version of the dish, jajangmyun, is crafted with a dark sauce made from a paste containing caramel and roasted soybeans. This paste is called chunking.

To make the sauce for ​jajangmyun, you stir-fry the vegetables, meat, and chunjang with sesame oil, sugar, and garlic, add water and carrots, then thicken it with cornstarch. The result is a salty-sweet, thick dark sauce that goes especially well with noodles, pork, and vegetables.

Jajangmyun is delicious and satisfying but inexpensive to buy or make, so it's a favorite home-cooked or takeout meal among almost all Koreans. It's most common to use wide, thick noodles made from wheat flour for jajangmyun, but if you can't find any noodles that are intended specifically for this dish, you easily can substitute wide buckwheat noodles or even linguine.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups diced pork loin

  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

  • 2 medium onions, diced

  • 1 medium zucchini, diced

  • 2 cups black bean paste, chunjang, or jajang

  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic

  • 6 1/2 cups water, divided

  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch

  • 3 pounds flat, thick noodles, dry or fresh, or buckwheat noodles or linguine

Toppings

  • Raw onion, sliced thinly, to taste

  • White vinegar, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for Korean noodles with black bean sauce
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck 

  2. In a large oiled skillet or wok, sauté pork and potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes.

    Saute pork
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Add onion and zucchini and continue to sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

    Add onion
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Add bean paste, sesame oil, sugar, and garlic to the pan, stirring to combine. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.

    Add bean paste
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Add 6 cups of water and the carrots and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

    Add water
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water.

    Mix cornstarch with water
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Pour into the sauce to thicken and cook for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

    Pour in to thicken
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  8. Prepare noodles according to package directions.

    Prepare noodles
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  9. Place a large helping of noodles in a big soup bowl. Ladle the jajang sauce over the noodles (myun).

    Place in soup bowl
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  10. Serve with sliced raw onions and white vinegar on the side (to splash onto the noodles).

    Serve with onions
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  11. Enjoy!

Recipe Variation

  • If you can't find the noodles, you can also use buckwheat, udon, or linguine noodles.

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