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Hong Kong zha jiang noodles, sweet, sour and hot

Hong Kong zha jiang noodles, sweet, sour and hot

炸醬撈麵
TossedNoodlesWeeknightKids like itEasyhands-on 35 min · start to finish 35 min

“Congee wants its full time on the boil before the rice opens.”

Ingredientsserves 2

街市Pork scotch· in thin strips100 g
雜貨舖Light soy sauce· for the pork½ tsp
雜貨舖Cornflour· cornflour, for the pork½ tsp
雜貨舖Chilli bean sauce· Lee Kum Kee is the milder; a Pixian jar is much hotter2 tbsp
雜貨舖Ketchup· what Australia calls tomato sauce2 tbsp
雜貨舖Tomato paste· tomato paste½ tbsp
雜貨舖Soybean paste· ground bean sauce; if you have it1 tsp
雜貨舖White vinegar½ tbsp
雜貨舖Sugar1 tbsp
雜貨舖Chilli oil· leave it out for children½ tsp
街市Garlic· minced2 cloves
雜貨舖Cooking oil1 tbsp
雜貨舖Thin egg noodles2 nests
雜貨舖Sesame oil· for the noodles1 tsp
街市Spring onion / scallion· chopped1

Equipment

  • A wok and a noodle pot. A frying pan does instead of the wok.

How the time splits

  1. 10 minCut and marinate the pork, mix the saucehands on
  2. 20 minFry the pork, add the sauce, ten minutes on lowhands on
  3. 5 minCook and dress the noodleshands on

Method

  1. Cut the pork into thin strips, toss them with the soy and cornflour and leave ten minutes. Mix the chilli bean sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, ground bean sauce, vinegar, sugar, chilli oil and 100 ml of water in a bowl.
  2. Heat the oil in the wok, fry the garlic until it smells good, then the pork until it changes colour.
  3. Pour in the sauce, bring it to the boil, then turn it down and simmer ten minutes, stirring now and then, until it is thick, glossy and a deep red. Those ten minutes cannot be skipped: cut them short and the sauce is watery, pale and still tastes of raw tomato.
  4. Taste it. The café version is sweet on purpose; if it is too sweet for you, cut the sugar and keep the vinegar, because the sourness is what holds the dish up.
  5. Boil the noodles thirty seconds until they loosen, rinse them in cold water straight away, return them to the boiling water for ten seconds, drain them very well and toss them with the sesame oil. Skip the rinse or the oil and they set into one clump as they sit.
  6. Noodles on the plate, sauce over the top, spring onion to finish. A small bowl of clear soup on the side is how a café serves it.

Take care

  • Pork, soy and wheat (the chilli bean sauce, ground bean sauce, soy sauce and noodles), egg (the noodles), sesame. It is hot: leave out the chilli oil for children and choose a mild chilli bean sauce.

The story

The zha jiang of a Hong Kong café or noodle shop is red, sweet-sour and a little hot, and shares only a name with Beijing's: the northern dish is yellow bean paste, sweet bean sauce, diced pork and cucumber, while Hong Kong's is chilli bean sauce, ketchup and tomato paste, and a different plate altogether. It is made from the jars a flat already had, which makes it the one dish on this wall an Australian-raised teenager can cook alone after school on a Tuesday.

Same kind

Century egg and salted-pork congeeFish-slice congee, cooked in the pourScholar's congee, with the pork offal

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.