Jajangmyun (chajangmyun, jjajang myun) is one of the most popular noodle dishes in korea, even though it actually originated in china, not korea. It is the korean adaptation of a chinese black bean noodle dish with the same name, and you can find it in many restaurants in korea. Jajangmyun differs from its chinese counterpart, zhajiangmian, by virtue of its sauce. In china, the sauce for zhajiangmian is made with yellow soybean paste, hoisin sauce or a sauce made from broad beans. However, the korean version of the dish, jajangmyun, is crafted with a dark sauce made from a paste containing caramel and roasted soybeans. This paste is called chunking. To make the sauce for jajangmyun, you stir-fry the vegetables, meat, and chunjang with sesame oil, sugar, and garlic, add water and carrots, then thicken it with cornstarch. The result is a salty-sweet, thick dark sauce that goes especially well with noodles, pork, and vegetables. Jajangmyun is delicious and satisfying but inexpensive to buy or make, so it's a favorite home-cooked or takeout meal among almost all koreans. It's most common to use wide, thick noodles made from wheat flour for jajangmyun, but if you can't find any noodles that are intended specifically for this dish, you easily can substitute wide buckwheat noodles or even linguine.
