Spicy Bean Paste Black Bean Noodles (Lazhojiang Jjajang Ramen)
Spicy Bean Paste Black Bean Noodles (Lazhojiang Jjajang Ramen)
Recreating Lee Jung-hyun’s Spicy Bean Paste Jjajang Ramen Recipe
Weekends call for a home chef! I recently saw a delicious-looking recipe and decided to try it out. It’s the Lazhojiang Jjajang Ramen that Lee Jung-hyun showcased on ‘Pyeon-Staurant’!
Ingredients- 1 pack Jjajang ramen
- 1 Tbsp Lazhojiang (spicy chili bean paste)
- 1/4 stalk green onion
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
First, we need to make some fragrant green onion oil to build the base flavor. In a wok or deep pan, add a generous amount of neutral cooking oil. Then, add the thinly sliced green onions.
Step 2
You can also use pre-sliced green onions that have been stored in the freezer. Sauté the green onions over medium-low heat until they turn slightly golden and fragrant, allowing their sweetness and aroma to infuse the oil.
Step 3
Meanwhile, the water for the noodles is boiling. Let’s check the cooking instructions on the ramen package. Typically, you add the dried vegetable mix, boil water, add noodles and cook for 5 minutes, then drain most of the water and mix in the liquid sauce. This recipe has a slightly different approach.
Step 4
The ramen comes with a dried vegetable packet and a liquid sauce packet. The recipe suggests boiling the water with the dried vegetable packet first, before adding the noodles. This might be to help the flavors penetrate the noodles better, so let’s follow that step. Add the dried vegetable packet to the water and bring it to a boil.
Step 5
Once the water is boiling rapidly, add the noodles. Cook them for 4 minutes and 40 seconds, slightly less than the package instructions (usually 5 minutes). This is because we’ll be stir-frying them again at the end, so we don’t want them to be overcooked.
Step 6
When the 4 minute 40 second timer goes off, add the cooked noodles, the dried vegetables, and about one ladleful of the starchy noodle water to the pan with the sautéed green onions. Now, add the liquid sauce packet and the star ingredient: 1 tablespoon of Lazhojiang.
Step 7
Turn the heat up to high and quickly stir-fry everything together, tossing vigorously like in a stir-fry. The goal is to evaporate most of the liquid and coat the noodles evenly with the sauce and Lazhojiang. Keep tossing until the sauce thickens and clings to the noodles, creating a glossy finish. Your delicious Lazhojiang Jjajang Ramen is ready!
