FIDGETY FINGERS' ZHA JIANG MIAN AKA BLACK BEAN SAUCE NOODLES

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面), a northen chinese dish, is a bowl of flat white noodles with a warm, thick and sweet minced meat sauce over it. I like it with oodles of cucumber shreds for the nice crunchy feel. For the extra punch, mix the minced meat sauce with some chilli paste or chilli flakes.

We basically made used of what we had in the fridge. We had a cucumber and that was what made us cook this. It is never quite the same without cucumber strips. We suggested Mr Washy should eat it with julienned green peppers when the cucumber ran out, it turned out to be pretty good too. It is quite a heavy sauce, so the taste of the fresh greens helps.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500gm minced pork
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 medium size onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1tsp minced ginger
• 3 tbsp black bean sauce
• 1 cucumber, julienned

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large work/pan, heat up some oil and add minced ginger, garlic and onions. Add minced pork and add cooking wine. Stirfry all ingredients for 5-10min until onions and meat start to brown nicely.
2. Stir in the bean sace and enough water to make a sauce. Simmer for 5-10min until the sauce thicken up.
3. Serve on rice or rice noodles.
4. Serve with julienned cucumber, spring onions, chili, coriander.