Vegan Jajangmyeon (Korean black bean sauce noodles)

💚Why you will love this recipe 

• Umami, is hearty and packed with flavors 
• Quick to make and is ready in 30 minutes 
• Healthy, filling, and is lower in fat and calories than the regular version 
• Highly customizable - most components in this dish are swappable! 

🤔What is jajangmyeon 

Jajangmyeon is a popular Korean-Chinese noodle dish consisting of thick wheat noodles cooked in chunjang (black bean sauce) with vegetables like zucchini, onion, and pork belly. The Chinese Zha Jiang Mian heavily inspires this dish. 

To make this recipe vegan, we will use tofu instead of pork belly. 

🍜Noodles for jajangmyeon 

Traditionally, fresh Chinese thick wheat noodles are used to make jajangmyeon. You can usually get it from your local Korean or Asian markets. However, as fresh noodles can be hard to find outside of Korea, you can opt for dry wheat noodles, udon noodles, or ramen. 

To make this recipe lower in carbs, you can use zoodles (zucchini noodles) or shirataki noodles. 

🧅What you will need 

📃Ingredients notes and substitutions 

• Chunjang - Also known as Korean black bean paste. 
  • It is a thick black sauce and is umami, salty, and pungent in flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste. 
  • You can find it in the international aisle of your local grocery. It can also be found in Asian or Korean markets. I usually get my chunjang online through Amazon. 
•  Oyster sauce -  Use vegetarian ones to keep this dish vegan.
  • I am using the Lee Kum Kee ones. Although it is labeled as '' stir-fry sauce'', it is essentially vegetarian oyster sauce and contains mushroom extracts.
  • Feel free to substitute it with soy sauce, but you might need less.
• Sugar - To balance out the bitterness of chunjang. Any sweetener like maple syrup, cane sugar, or brown sugar can be used in this recipe. 
• Noodles - Opt for wheat noodles, udon, or ramen to make vegan jajangmyeon. Both dried and fresh noodles will work. 
• Tofu - Use extra-firm tofu that has been drained and pressed beforehand, either using a tofu press or by stacking something heavy on top. 

🔪How to make 

Start by dicing your tofu into small cubes. Set aside. 

Cook/prepare your noodles according to package instructions. Set aside.

Heat some oil in a large cast iron skillet or non-stick pan, then add onion and zucchini. Fry until the onion is translucent. 

Add cabbage and shiitake mushrooms next. Cook until veggies have softened. 

Make a well in the pan, then add black bean paste, oyster sauce, and sugar. Fry for a minute, stirring constantly. 

Now, add broth and tofu to the pan. Give everything a mix, and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. In the meantime, mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and stir until the cornstarch has dissolved completely. 

Pour cornstarch slurry into the pan, and cook until the sauce has thickened. Give it a taste, adding some soy sauce or salt if needed. Serve it with cooked noodles, and your vegan jajangmyeon is ready to be enjoyed! 

✔️Helpful tips 

• Cooked noodles might clump together after sitting for some time. You can easily separate the strands by rinsing them under cold water. 
• If you prefer a thinner, soupy sauce, I recommend increasing the broth to 1 ½ cups. 
• Leftover black bean sauce noodles can be refrigerated for 3-4 days. If possible, keep black bean sauce separated from the noodles. 
• I highly recommend multiplying the recipe for black bean sauce as part of your meal prep! All you have to do is cook up some noodles and heat the sauce when ready to serve. 

✨Variations 

Noodles - As mentioned above, you can use fresh or dried wheat noodles, udon noodles, or ramen to make vegan jajangmyeon. The vegan black bean sauce goes well with rice too! 

Tofu - Can be substituted with veggie grounds, tempeh, or chunks of seitan chicken. 

Veggies - Feel free to use whatever veg you have to make this recipe! Potatoes, button mushrooms, carrots, and celery are some great options. Add harder veggies like potatoes and carrots to the pan before the more tender ones. 

Toppings - Shredded cucumber, toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onion, and red pepper flakes are some of my go-to. I also love serving this vegan jajangmyeon with some danmuji, or Korean pickled radish.

Make it spicy - Add around 1-2 tablespoons of gochujang along with chunjang, or stir in some gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes) or regular chili flakes while cooking. 

❔Commonly asked questions

🍽️More vegan noodles recipe

If you did make this recipe, do leave a rating and comment down below, we love hearing from you! Subscribe to My Plantiful Cooking to get new recipes delivered straight to your inbox! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get the latest updates. 😉