Updated Zha Jiang/Ja Ja Mein sauce
Here's my updated sauce recipe:
INGREDIENTS
2 16oz cans of Szchewan TF brand sweet bean sauce (http://www.giantunion.com/product_description.php?itemno=1500707&name=SWEET%20BEAN%20SAUCE)
4-6 large bell peppers (I get one of every color, I think it adds to the overall flavor of the sauce, you can use more if you like more bell peppers, helps thin the sauce)
2 pieces of five spices savory baked/dried tofu (I use this brand: http://www.shanghaiwholesale.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=72649622888, which can be bought at most Chinese markets, like 99 Ranch)
3-5 shallots (there's never such a thing as "too much shallot" for this sauce)
About 2 cups (or as much/as little as you like) of frozen lima beans
1-2 lbs (more or less as you like) of ground pork.
rice wine
garlic salt
sugar
soy sauce
cooking oil
PREP WORK
Marinate the ground pork with some rice wine, garlic salt, sugar and soy sauce, once that's all mixed together and the pork has darkened evenly from the soy sauce, mix a bit of cooking oil into it.
Dice up the bell pepper and dried tofu to about the size of a lima bean.
Defrost the lima beans
Chop up the shallots into fine shreds.
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat up some vegetable oil in a wok/pan
2. When the oil is hot, throw in about a fourth of the shallot you've prepared, stir it around for a few secs, then throw in the ground pork, and stir cook (making sure the ground pork stays crumbly).
3. When the ground pork is cooked, dish it out.
4. Heat up a more oil in the now empty wok.
5. When the oil is hot, throw in the rest of the shallot, stir it around for a a few seconds before emptying the two cans of sweet been sauce into the wok. Stir quickly to keep the sauce from burning! (This step of "frying the sauce" is VERY important... it's the reason why the sauce is called "zha jiang/ja ja", it literally means "fried sauce")
6. Fill a third of one of the empty sweet bean sauce cans with soy sauce, use that to rinse out the two cans of the sweet sauce that clung on, then dump that soy sauce into the wok. (This serves to clean the cans and thin out the sauce a bit, ideally, you're not supposed to add water into the sauce.)
7. When the sauce starts to bubble (you won't have to wait long), dump in the bell-peppers, lima beans, and baked tofu. Stir and mix the veggies into the sauce.
8. Once the bell peppers start to soften, pour in the ground pork from before, and stir. Once everything is mixed well, let the sauce bubble for a minute or two, and it's ready!
9. Cook up some noodles, dish them out, and ladle sauce over them as you like.
Toppings (optional):
Traditionally, you're supposed to prepare "toppings" that can be mixed in with the noodles. Some of the basics are: shredded cucumbers, blanched bean spouts (the bean sprouts should be in the boiling water for NO MORE than 30 secs...), and shredded scrambled eggs (cook it like you would make an omelet, lay out the sheet of egg, and cut into shreds).
INGREDIENTS
2 16oz cans of Szchewan TF brand sweet bean sauce (http://www.giantunion.com/product_description.php?itemno=1500707&name=SWEET%20BEAN%20SAUCE)
4-6 large bell peppers (I get one of every color, I think it adds to the overall flavor of the sauce, you can use more if you like more bell peppers, helps thin the sauce)
2 pieces of five spices savory baked/dried tofu (I use this brand: http://www.shanghaiwholesale.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=72649622888, which can be bought at most Chinese markets, like 99 Ranch)
3-5 shallots (there's never such a thing as "too much shallot" for this sauce)
About 2 cups (or as much/as little as you like) of frozen lima beans
1-2 lbs (more or less as you like) of ground pork.
rice wine
garlic salt
sugar
soy sauce
cooking oil
PREP WORK
Marinate the ground pork with some rice wine, garlic salt, sugar and soy sauce, once that's all mixed together and the pork has darkened evenly from the soy sauce, mix a bit of cooking oil into it.
Dice up the bell pepper and dried tofu to about the size of a lima bean.
Defrost the lima beans
Chop up the shallots into fine shreds.
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat up some vegetable oil in a wok/pan
2. When the oil is hot, throw in about a fourth of the shallot you've prepared, stir it around for a few secs, then throw in the ground pork, and stir cook (making sure the ground pork stays crumbly).
3. When the ground pork is cooked, dish it out.
4. Heat up a more oil in the now empty wok.
5. When the oil is hot, throw in the rest of the shallot, stir it around for a a few seconds before emptying the two cans of sweet been sauce into the wok. Stir quickly to keep the sauce from burning! (This step of "frying the sauce" is VERY important... it's the reason why the sauce is called "zha jiang/ja ja", it literally means "fried sauce")
6. Fill a third of one of the empty sweet bean sauce cans with soy sauce, use that to rinse out the two cans of the sweet sauce that clung on, then dump that soy sauce into the wok. (This serves to clean the cans and thin out the sauce a bit, ideally, you're not supposed to add water into the sauce.)
7. When the sauce starts to bubble (you won't have to wait long), dump in the bell-peppers, lima beans, and baked tofu. Stir and mix the veggies into the sauce.
8. Once the bell peppers start to soften, pour in the ground pork from before, and stir. Once everything is mixed well, let the sauce bubble for a minute or two, and it's ready!
9. Cook up some noodles, dish them out, and ladle sauce over them as you like.
Toppings (optional):
Traditionally, you're supposed to prepare "toppings" that can be mixed in with the noodles. Some of the basics are: shredded cucumbers, blanched bean spouts (the bean sprouts should be in the boiling water for NO MORE than 30 secs...), and shredded scrambled eggs (cook it like you would make an omelet, lay out the sheet of egg, and cut into shreds).