Jjajangmyeon... The Best Noodle Dish Around?

If you’ve never heard of jjajangmyeon, it’s okay - I didn’t know about it until I started to learn more about Korean culture! This noodle dish has a special history behind it as one of the most popular meals sold in Korea, and more than seven million bowls are dished out each day!

Jjajangmyeon is a Koreanized Chinese entree comprised of thick noodles topped with a black bean paste. The paste is mixed together with meat and vegetables such as onion, cabbage, zucchini, and potatoes, and thinned with a bit of water or flavored stock. To combat the greasiness of the dish, danmuji (pickled radish) is usually served as a side. Because it’s so easy and cheap to prepare and make, many Koreans frequently eat this dish when they don’t have time to cook.

Jjajangmyeon is based on the Chinese dish zhajiangmian. In the 19th century, Chinese restaurants started appearing frequently in Incheon, a city very close to Seoul. It's speculated that a restaurant called Gonghwachun was the first to start serving it. After the Korean War, jjajangmyeon was fairly expensive so parents would only bring their children to Chinese restaurants on special occasions, such as birthdays, graduations, or Children’s Day. Now, jjajangmyeon is relatively cheap and is eaten on many occasions. One very popular day on which most Koreans eat this dish is known as “Black Day.”

Black Day, celebrated in Korea on April 14, is when single people get together to “mourn” the fact that they are not in relationships by wearing black and eating jjajangmyeon. It’s similar to Valentine’s Day (February 14) or White Day (March 14), but instead of a day of love for couples, it’s a day reminding people all over Korea that they are single!

From Korean dramas to YouTube videos, so many people make jjajangmyeon and it looks delicious. I think I might just have to go online and find some black bean paste and make this dish for myself!