Chinese Meat Sauce Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian)

It's been almost a month since my last post.  Our house are busy with visitors for the past few weekends, simply because we are looking out...for a better environment of course.  Those visitors are our potential house buyers.  As we had confirmed with a buyer now, is time for me to get back to the kitchen and do something that I like before we busy with packing again.

Today I am sharing another Chinese recipe - Chinese Meat Sauce Noodles.  This Chinese Meat Sauce noodles also has been named as Chinese spaghetti.  The minced meat are cooked with thick sweet bean sauce and for those who loves it to be spicy, you may used chili bean sauce like me.  In these bowls of noodles has varieties of taste in it that you'll like - sweet, spicy, salt and the cool fresh garnished vegetables.  As for the noodles, I had used my all time favorite "udon" because I always prefer something that not too soft when you bite the them.  

Give a try on this recipe if you're looking for some different way of making spaghetti!

Ingredients

 2 packets fresh udon (200g each)

300g minced meat (pork or beef or chicken)

2 shallots, minced

2 clove of garlic, minced

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

3 tbsp chili bean sauce or normal bean sauce if you do not like spicy

1/2 tsp Chinese Five-spices powder

2 tbsp brown sugar 

1/2 cup of chicken broth

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp corn starch + 1 tbsp water

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 carrot, julienne

1 cucumber, julienne 

Above ingredients serves 2 

Instructions

1.  Cook fresh udon according to the packing instructions or just for about 5 minutes if you do not wish it to be too soft.  Drain and set aside.

2.   In small bowl, combine dark soy sauce, bean sauce, brown sugar & Chinese five spices powder, mix well and set aside.

3.  Heat-up cooking oil in a pan or skillet in middle high heat, saute minced shallots and garlic until aromatic.

4.  Add in mince meat, mix well and let it cook for 1 - 2 minutes.  Pour in Shaoxing wine.

5.  Add in the mixtures of sauces into the minced meat, mix well and follow by the chicken broth.

6.  Cover with lid and let it simmer about 10 minutes.  Add in corn starch mixtures and off heat.

7.  Serve the minced meat on top of the cooked noodles and garnish with carrots & cucumber.  Mix well the minced meat sauce with the noodles and the fresh vegetables yummy!