Zha Jiang Mien (Chinese Spaghetti)

4 Feb

One of my favorite dishes growing up was my grandma’s special ”zha jiang mien,” aka “Chinese spaghetti.”  Zha jian mien is a Chinese noodle dish consisting of noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork sauce.  Unfortunately, my grandma passed away many years ago — I miss my grandma dearly and I also miss her special zha jian mien.  Since she passed away long before I began cooking, I don’t have the recipe for her special “spaghetti sauce.”   Below is a recipe I put together using various recipes I found online.  The sauce turned out tasty but not as “saucey” as my grandma’s.  Next time I’ll add hoisin sauce to make the mixture creamier. 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp. minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp. minced ginger
  • 3 tbsp. minced green onion
  • 1/2 lb. gound pork
  • 1 tbsp. Shaohsing wine (cooking shery)
  • 2 tbsp. garlic chili sauce
  • 2 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce
  • 2 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup diced baked tofu
  • 1/2 cup diced preserved green mustard
  • Chinese noodles
  • 1 carrot, julienned (optional)
  • 1/2 cucumber, julienned (optional)
  • 1 cup bean sprouts (optional)

METHOD

1.  Mix cooking sherry, black bean sauce, soy sauce together in a bowl and set aside.

2.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok.  Add the garlic, ginger and green onion to the wok; cook until fagrant (about 15 seconds).  Add the ground pork, stir constantly to break apart.  Cook until the meat is about halfway cooked (still a little pink and beginning to brown) – should take about 5 minutes. 

3.  Pour in the  previously prepared sherry, bean sauce, and soy sauce mixture.  Thoroughly stir until the pork is cooked.  Add the mustard greens, baked bean curd, and water.  Stir and let simmer for a few minutes. 

4.  Serve pork sauce over cooked noodles and garnish with cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts if desired.

Voila!  A hearty Chinese favorite!

3 Responses to “Zha Jiang Mien (Chinese Spaghetti)”

  1. Jenn 09. Feb, 2010 at 3:11 pm #

    Love your website, Karen!!! I’m going to attempt this dish. Do you parboil your sprouts and veggies first? Or do you keep them raw for a crunch? Also, how many do you think this recipe will serve?

    Reply
    • karen 09. Feb, 2010 at 11:05 pm #

      Thanks, Jenn! I like to keep the veggies raw but you can cook them a bit beforehand too. This recipe makes about 4-6 servings, depending on how much you eat. :) Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
  2. krissy @ the food addicts 19. Feb, 2010 at 3:39 pm #

    hey karen! it’s great to put your old family recipes on the blog… now you can always have a reference for it! great dish!

    Reply

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