Zhajiang Noodles

Difficulty ★★★Updated 1/25/2026

Ingredients and Tools

  • Diced meat/ground meat
  • Noodles (dried noodles or regular noodles)
  • Garlic
  • Vegetable toppings (choose according to personal preference, usually 4-10 kinds; options include cucumber, cabbage, radish, etc.)
  • Doubanjiang
  • Sweet bean sauce

Measurements

  • Diced meat/ground meat 150g
  • If noodles choose dried noodles: 150g If noodles choose regular noodles: 250g
  • Scallion 15g
  • Vegetable toppings total 35g
  • Cooking oil 10g
  • Doubanjiang 20g
  • Sweet bean sauce 20g

Steps

  • Shred the vegetable toppings and set aside.
  • Chop the scallion. Heat oil in a wok, add scallion and meat, stir-fry until the meat is fully cooked (no red).
  • Add doubanjiang and sweet bean sauce, continue stir-frying until slightly thick. Remove and set aside to make the zhajiang.
  • Take a large bowl and add cold water; set aside.
  • Boil the noodles until just cooked (no white core), then transfer into the bowl with cold water from step 4.
  • Drain immediately, then transfer to a clean bowl.
  • Take the zhajiang from step 3, pour into the bowl, and mix well. Then add the vegetable toppings from step 1 and mix well.

Notes

  • Lean diced meat is recommended for better texture; buy fresh and use immediately.
  • Regular noodles are recommended.
  • The key to noodle texture is chewiness. Do not choose thin noodles like vermicelli.
  • If you have conditions (another pot) and after you are proficient, steps 2 and 3 and steps 1, 4, 5, 6 can be done in parallel at different times.
  • Sweet/salty preference varies; the ratio of the two sauces needs your own iteration and optimization. If you follow this guide's process and find issues or a better process, please submit an Issue or Pull request.