Jajangmyeon originated from the Chinese dish zhá jiàng miàn 炸酱面, which was a simple peasant meal in Shandong. While zhá jiàng miàn belongs under Shandong Cuisine or lǔ cài 鲁菜 (Lu Cuisine), one of the Four Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine (四大菜系) and is also the most prominent cuisine in the modern Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine (八大菜系), it was popularized in Beijing. In Singapore and China, the zhá jiàng miàn that we know and eat is similar to the version in Beijing.
There is no hard evidence to show how zhá jiàng miàn made its way to Beijing but there is a myth. The myth has it that when Empress Dowager Cixi chanced upon it and loved it so much that she demanded to bring the chef, who made the noodles, to Beijing and the palace so that they could eat it often. Another story states that the beginnings of the popularization of zhá jiàng miàn came from this shop called “隆兴号” where they served cut noodles and hand-pulled noodles. The hand-pulled noodles and homemade sauce were drawing people to come eat their zhá jiàng miàn.
The Making of Zhá jiàng miàn
| Beijing’s zhá jiàng miàn | Korea’s Jajangmyeon | |
| Sauce | A mix of both yellow soybean paste (黄豆酱, huáng dòu jiàng) & sweet bean sauce (甜面酱, tián miàn jiàng) | Black bean paste (춘장, chun jang) |
| Taste | Saltier-side | Sweeter-side |
| Accompanying side dish | – | Chunjang, chopped onions and yellow pickled radish (sometimes with kimchi) |
While there is not much to find when searching for the history of zhá jiàng miàn, we could probably look at the history of its making. When we look at zhá jiàng miàn, there are two parts to making this dish – the noodles and the sauce.
Chinese noodles were referred to as cake (饼) when it originated during the Han Dynasty, more than 4,000 years old.[1] However, zhá jiàng miàn is a relatively modern dish and the unique point lies in its sauce. The sauce for Beijing’s zhá jiàng miàn is made up of yellow soybean paste (黄豆酱 or 豆酱) and sweet bean sauce (甜面酱). The yellow soybean paste is made from yellow soybeans as per its name and sweet bean sauce is actually made from wheat flour.[2] The first record of some kind of paste/sauce (酱) is from Western Han Dynasty in Shi You’s (史游) Chinese primer which illustrates the importance of paste/sauce in Chinese cooking.[3] Although it is unclear when sweet bean sauce started being utilized, it can be categorized under fermented soy product. The first mention of a fermented soybean product is the fermented soybean paste, jiang, where it was found in Han Tomb No.1 sealed in about 165BCE at Mawangdui, Hunan province.[4]
For Jajangmyeon, the sauce is made from chunjang, Korean black bean paste which is made from salted fermented soybean and coloured with caramel. As such, the Jajangmyeon is sweeter than zhá jiàng miàn. In addition, Jajangmyeon is often served with kimchi, yellow pickled radish, chunjang and onions on the side while zhá jiàng miàn is usually eaten on its own.
Jajangmyeon in Korea
So how did zhá jiàng miàn made its way to Korea? During the late 19th century, Chinese from Shandong province started to move to Incheon, Korea (a sea port) as they wanted to escape from the poverty and Korea was geographically closest to Shandong.[5] The Chinese brought along zhá jiàng miàn to Korea as Gonghwachun, the first restaurant selling the dish was opened in 1905.
There has been a debate whether Jajangmyeon is considered a Chinese dish as one would not be able to find it in China. Jajangmyeon has become an example of the Koreanization of Chinese food and has established itself as part of Korean cuisine. It is the most common dish to be ordered for delivery and for a quick meal for busy workers. This is a very unique case as in Korea, it is categorized under jungsik 중식 (Chinese cuisine) but it has become a dish that even the tourists to Korea associate to Korean rather than Chinese cuisine.
Who eats zhá jiàng miàn?
It seems that zhá jiàng miàn is often a home-cooked meal that is not easily bought. However, as it became more popular it is now easily found in many restaurants. In Korea, Jajangmyeon started off as a luxury food as most Koreans could not afford it. Most Chinese restaurants that were established in the early 20th century were catered to rich merchants from China as such, peasants and Koreans rarely frequent these places.[6] However, during the 1970s, due to a special tax regulation imposed on foreigners, most Chinese could not keep up with the change and was not able to continue their businesses. Many Koreans then took over the operations of these restaurants. Families would frequent these restaurants whenever there is a special occasion to have Jajangmyeon. Furthermore, since that late 20th century, the dish has been transformed to be affordable and cheap as the government imposed a law that restrict the increase of the price of Jajangmyeon so that everyone can have affordable meals.[7] Since then, Jajangmyeon has been eaten more often than ever.
[1] John, Roach, “4,000-Year-Old Noodles Found in China,” National Geographic, October 12, 2005, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/4-000-year-old-noodles-found-in-china/ (accessed October 10, 2019).
[2] Shiu-ying, Hu, Food Plants of China, (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2005), 39.
[3] Jijiupian 急就篇(Quickly Master [Character] Chapters). Ctext.org.
[4] William, Shurtleff, History of Miso, Soybean Jiang (China), Jang (Korea) and Tauco (Indonesia) (200 BC-2009), (Lafayette: Soyinfo Center, 2009), 18.
[5] Young-kyun, Yang, “Jajangmyeon and Junggukjip: The Changing Position and Meaning of Chinese Food and Chinese Restaurants in Korean Society,” Korea Journal 45 (2005): 63.
[6] Kwang-ok Kim, “Contested Terrain of Imagination: Chinese Food in Korea,” in Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia, ed. David Y. H. Wu and Chee-Beng Tan (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2001), 203.
[7] Ibid, 207.
Bibliography
Cong shubian weihui bianji 丛书编委会编辑. Zhongguo yinshi wenhua 中国饮食文化 [History of Chinese cuisine]. Taiwan: Songbo chubanshe, 2018.
Hu, Shiu-ying. Food Plants of China. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2005.
Kim, Kwang-ok. “Contested Terrain of Imagination: Chinese Food in Korea.” In Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia, edited by David Y. H. Wu and Chee-Beng Tan, 201-217. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2001.
Kim, Kyung-moo. “South Korea found the most ramen-eating country.” Hankyoreh, December 20, 2014, http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/670014.html.
Shurtleff, William and Aoyagi, Akiko. “History of Fermented Black Soybeans.” Soyinfo Center, December 11, 2011. http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/150 (accessed October 8, 2019).
Shurtleff, William. History of Miso, Soybean Jiang (China), Jang (Korea) and Tauco (Indonesia) (200 BC-2009). Lafayette: Soyinfo Center, 2009.
Yang, Young-kyun. “Jajangmyeon and Junggukjip: The Changing Position and Meaning of Chinese Food and Chinese Restaurants in Korean Society.” Korea Journal 45 (2005): 60-88.
Yang, Young-kyun. “Well-Being Discourse and Chinese Food in Korean Society.” In Re-orienting Cuisine: East Asian Foodways in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Kwang-ok Kim, 203-219. New York: Berghahn Books, 2015.