If you ask me to eat one thing, everyday, for the rest of my life, I would have to go with noodles - especially one of the saucy variety.

Zha JIang Mian (炸酱面), a dish that comes in many variations is one of those. Traditionally, a pork based sauce, served with pickled cucumbers and carrots, this noodles dish always reminds me of how much I miss traveling through China. The flavors of this dish vary by region and if you’re making this at home, I would also say it varies by the bean sauce brands you purchase. I linked a few for you below but feel free to experiment - combine the sweet, savory and spicy and find what works best for you.

Since I usually maintain a plant-based diet at home, I swapped the pork for what I had in my fridge this week - shiitake mushrooms. Finely chopped into its own mushroom mince and smothered in a mix of soy bean and sweet bean paste, then poured over a heart bowl of noodles, these fried sauce noodles are the perfect 10-minute meal for any person on the go.

TOOLS USED

Zha Jian Mian

About 10-15 minutes | Serves about 4

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup Soybean paste

1/4 cup Sweet bean paste  (Tian Mian Jiang)

3 tablespoons ShaoXing wine or water

1 tablespoon hot bean paste, optional

100g Shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms

30g Garlic (about 4 cloves), minced

30g Ginger, minced

50g (about 1 bunch) Scallions, chopped and 1 sliced for garnish

400g Noodles of choice

1 Cucumber, julienned

Chilli powder

METHOD

In a medium bowl, combine soybean paste, sweet bean paste (Tian Mian Jiang), ShaoXing wine and chili oil.  Set aside.

Heat a pan with neutral oil on medium-high.  Add garlic, ginger and 1/4 of the scallions and cook until fragrant.  Then, add mushrooms and cook for another 1-2 minutes, lastly add sauce.  Reduce the heat to low, and let slimmer for about 15 minutes.  Stir in the remainder of the scallions, leaving some for garnish. Remove from heat.

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain and plate.  Top noodles with sauce and garnish with cucumbers, chopped and sliced scallions.

**other garnishes that work well with this dish include cilantro, radishes and cucumbers.