Zha Jiang Mian, I believe, is Chinese, but it is a popular noodle dish in Japan as well.
I forgot how much I liked this dish until I happened to see a local Chinese/Korean restaurant on Yelp that apparently specializes in Ja Jiang Mein.
I saw people’s pictures of their Zha Jiang Mian, and all of a sudden I felt craving!
I wanted my Zha Jiang Mian vegan, so I decided to use Baby Bella mushrooms and eggplant in place of ground meat.
I love mushroom and eggplant, and this was perfect for me.
As soon as I took my apron off, the sauce splashed all over my T-shirt…
But this was so worth it.
It was super tasty, and I was happy.
Zha Jiang Mian with Mushrooms and Eggplant
Zha Jiang sauce
canola oil
1 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4~1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
2 tablespoons chopped scallion
1 cup chopped baby bella mushrooms
1 cup peeled and chopped eggplant
1/2 cup chopped bamboo shoot
salt and pepper
1 cup water
4~6 tablespoons Tenmenjan (Chinese bean paste)
1 teaspoon Tobanjan (Chinese spicy bean paste)
1.5~2 tablespoons sugar
3~4 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and pepper
corn starch + water (for thickening)
100g cooked Chinese noodles
sesame oil
1 cup julienned cucumber
chopped scallion
Thai basil
1. Make Zha Jiang sauce. Cook garlic, ginger, and scallion with oil.
2. Add mushrooms, eggplant, and bamboo shoot, and continue to cook. Salt and pepper.
3. Add water, Tenmenjan, Tobanjan, sugar, soy sauce, and salt, and pepper.
4. Add corn starch/water mixture to thicken the sauce.
5. Drizzle sesame oil over cooked noodles. Mix well.
6. Pour the sauce over the noodles. Serve with cucumber, scallion, and Thai basil.
I’m on Instagram.
