Northern · noodle
Zhajiang Noodles
炸酱面 · Zhājiàng Miàn
Thick hand-pulled wheat noodles topped with a slow-fried pork and sweet bean paste sauce plus raw vegetable shreds.
Beijing's signature noodle dish uses thick, hand-pulled or hand-rolled wheat noodles dressed with a sauce of minced pork fried low and slow in yellow soybean paste (huáng jiàng) and sweet bean sauce (tiánmiàn jiàng) until the fat separates and the paste deepens to an intense, slightly caramelised consistency. The sauce is piled on top of freshly cooked noodles; diners then add an assortment of raw vegetable garnishes from small side dishes — julienned cucumber, radish, edamame, beansprouts, spring onion and slivered carrot are all common. Everything is mixed at the table before eating. The dish is filling, robust and slightly sweet, with the raw vegetables providing freshness against the rich sauce. Korean jajangmyeon derives from this dish, carried over by early-twentieth-century Chinese migrants.
Where to try
Beijing: traditional noodle shops near the Drum Tower and in Dongcheng district. Available at any Beijing-style restaurant across the city.
Dietary notes
Contains pork, wheat, soy. A vegetarian version substituting tofu exists at some specialist noodle shops.
Cities to try Zhajiang Noodles
Other north dishes
- Beijing Lamb Hot Pot涮羊肉
Beijing-Mongolian style hot pot — clear broth, thinly-sliced lamb, sesame-paste dipping sauce.
- Boiled Dumplings (Shuijiao)水饺
Wheat-wrapper dumplings filled with pork-and-cabbage, lamb-and-leek, or vegetable, boiled and served with vinegar.
- Cat's Ear Noodles猫耳朵
Small thumbnail-pinched Shanxi pasta, shaped like cat's ears. Stir-fried with vegetables or in soup.
- Goubuli Baozi狗不理包子
Tianjin's signature steamed pork buns. The original house, founded 1858, is still operating.