Fried Sauce Noodles | 炸酱面
Sauce:
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/2 lb pork belly (can sub for more ground pork if not available)
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1/2 small onion
- 1/2 cup canola oil, divided
- 1 17.5 oz jar fermented black bean paste
- 3 green onions
- 1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
4 servings Chinese lo mein noodles
1 cucumber
1/8 cup cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
Garlic (optional)
Chop pork belly into small pieces--the smaller the better. If you can't find pork belly at your grocery store, you can sub for pork chop or more ground pork. Mince ginger and chop onion as well.
Heat up wok over high heat. Coat with oil and drop in ginger and chopped onion. Stir fry briefly before adding ground pork and chopped pork belly. Cook until just no longer pink in color. At this point, reduce heat to low and immediately add rest of oil, entire jar of black bean paste, and 1 full jar of water. Using the bean paste jar for water will also help get the rest of the paste out of the jar.
Increase heat to medium low and stir frequently, adjusting heat if sauce begins to splatter too much. The sauce needs to cook for at least 30 minutes, but the longer you cook it the more the flavors will develop, so aim for an hour if you have the time. Add more water if it thickens too much, but at the end of an hour it should be a thick, dark brown sludge.
While the sauce cooks, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Chop up five green onions total--three will go into the sauce and set two aside. Cook noodles per package instructions, julienne cucumber, and chop cilantro. Set all of these aside.
Remove sludge from heat and add three chopped green onions, sesame oil, and sugar. You're now done with the sauce, which can basically last forever if refrigerated. This recipes makes a lot of sauce. The idea is that you can use some whenever you need for your noodles.
The ingredients that were set aside makes four servings of noodles with toppings. Let each person add their choice amounts of cilantro, green onions, cucumber, and about a tablespoon of sauce. You can add more or less sauce to your taste, but keep in mind it's very concentrated and flavorful. Combine well and eat with raw garlic if desired.