Zha Jiang Mian

Don’t ask me why, but in the afternoon, I suddenly developed a massive craving for Zha Jiang Mian. I think it’s because I was planning to cook khai pad gaprao for dinner (ok ok, I’m showing off - it’s simply thai for stir-fried minced chicken with basil) and I was also thinking of how to use up the cucumbers in my fridge. So, me with the lateral mind went from minced chicken to minced beef, from leftover cucumbers to thinly sliced cucumber garnish. Add garlic, ginger, onion, hoisin, sherry and voila! A whole new other dish popped into my brain. And I started salivating. ^__^ For the uninitiated, zha jiang mian is a delish bowl of flat white noodles with a warm, thick and sweet minced meat sauce over it. It’s usually topped up with cucumbers slices, which are a perfect foil to the thick meaty-ness of the dish, or sometimes, with chopped onion shoots. Most people will like to add some spicyness to the dish, i.e., chilli flakes etc., but since I can’t take hot stuff, I’m naturally omitted all forms of spice. Still, the warm sweet gravy of the dish is enough to satisfy me. And here’s the lovely recipe. Cheers!

ingredients

300g minced beef
2 tb soya sauce
3 tb hoisin sauce
2 tb cooking sherry
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 thumb length of ginger, chopped **
1 large onion, chopped **
3-5 garlic, chopped **
1 ts cornflour, dissolved in about 3 tb of chicken stock
1 cucumber
Taiwanese noodles (enough for 2)*
1 tb sesame oil

directions

1
1. Mix the soya sauce into the beef and set aside.
2
2. Combine the hoisin, sherry and chicken stock well.
3
3. Heat up some oil and fry the ginger, onion and garlic mixture till fragrant.
4
4. Add the minced beef and stir continuously to achieve a light brown colour all-round.
5
5. Add hoisin, sherry and chicken stock mix. Lower fire and cover for 10 minutes. Open once in a while to stir.
6
6. In the meantime, combine the cornstarch and a bit of chicken stock, if you haven’t done so already, and add to the beef.
7
7. Finely chop the cucumbers into middle finger-length strips.
8
8. Add noodles to boiling water . Follow packet instructions to cook - probably 4 to 5 minutes.
9
9. Drain water and add sesame oil to noodles.
10
10. Finally, arrange noodles in bowls, add beef with sauce on top and top off with cucumber strips. Serve hot!
11
* These are the flat, white noodles. They don’t come fresh - that’s a different type. You buy them dried, in packets, and they’re made from wheat flour.
12
** The ginger, onion and garlic needs to be very finely chopped, so if you have one of those electric choppers/mincers, here’s the time to put it to good use! Just throw in all three ingredients and mince away!