Fuchsia Dunlop's Zhajiang Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian)

Name: Fuchsia Dunlop's Zhajiang Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian)
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 1 handful Good of bean sprouts; 2 servings Some Chinese cabbage; 1 small carrot; 1 celery stick; 2 Tbsps cooking oil; 2 servings Small section of cucumber; 2 Tbsps finely chopped ginger; 5 Tbsps sweet fermented sauce; 1 teaspoon whole Sichuan pepper; 125 grams 1/4 ounces finely chopped or coarsely ground belly pork; 1 small piece purple-hearted Chinese radish (xin li mei); 2 servings Salt, to taste; 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1 Handful cooked green soy beans or peas; 2 star anise; 200 grams ounces dried Chinese wheat flour noodles, or 11 ounces (300 grams) fresh noodles

You can never have too many main course recipes, so give Fuchsia Dunlop's Zhajiang Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian) a try. Watching your figure? This dairy free recipe has 943 calories, 18g of protein, and 49g of fat per serving. This recipe serves 2. This recipe covers 32% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. Head to the store and pick up handful of soy beans, purple-hearted radish, fermented sauce, and a few other things to make it today. To use up the star anise you could follow this main course with the Mini Star-Anise Scones as a dessert. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes roughly 45 minutes.

Instructions

Add the oil to a seasoned wok over a high flame and swirl it around. Immediately add the Sichuan pepper and star anise and stir-fry for a few moments until they smell delicious. Then remove the spices with a slotted spoon, leaving the fragrant oil in the wok.

Ingredients you will need

Star Anise

Pepper

Spices

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Slotted Spoon

Wok

Add the pork and stir-fry until it has become pale, pressing the meat with the back of your ladle or wok scoop to help separate it out into little morsels. Then add the ginger and stir-fry until you can smell it.

Ingredients you will need

Ginger

Meat

Pork

Equipment you will use

Ladle

Wok

Add the Shaoxing wine, stir once or twice, then add the sweet fermented sauce. Stir-fry for a few moments more until it smells rich and delicious, then cover the pork generously with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes, until the sauce is dark and luxuriantly thick. Season with a scattering of salt (the sauce should be intensely-flavored and seem on its own a little over-salted, because it will be used to flavor the bland noodles).

Ingredients you will need

Shaoxing Wine

Pasta

Sauce

Water

Pork

Salt

When you wish to eat, bring a pan of water to a boil.

Ingredients you will need

Water

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Cut whichever you are using of the cucumber, celery, carrot, cabbage, and radish into fine slivers. Blanch the beansprouts and all the vegetables except for the cucumber in the boiling water; they should remain a bit crisp. (It is best to blanch each vegetable separately, using a slotted spoon to remove them from the water.) Refresh the blanched vegetables immediately under a cold tap and drain well.

Ingredients you will need

Bean Sprouts

Vegetable

Cucumber

Cabbage

Carrot

Celery

Radish

Water

Equipment you will use

Slotted Spoon

Reheat the pork sauce. Cook the noodles, rinse briefly under the tap, shake dry, then divide between two serving bowls.

Ingredients you will need

Pasta

Shake

Pork

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Add some of each of your vegetables to the bowls. Top with the pork sauce. Stir everything together with chopsticks before eating, scattering with chilli slices, if you like.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Chili Pepper